Janet Harker and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by Nerdfighter1309
Summary: Janet, Alice and John return for Hogwarts for the third year, what can go wrong? Except an escaped murder(?), a kidnapped Goddess, a friendly Titan, a demon, a pair of unconventional heroes, a French monster, a prophecy and a battle at Camp, it might be a boring year after all...
1. Chapter 1

Translated from Ancient Greek by Alannah Right, Head Librarian of the Great Library of Salem, Salem Witches' Institute.

Text in italics is assumed to have been spoken in Ancient Greek at the time of events happening

Text in bold are spells

Text in inverted commas are thoughts

* * *

Janet here again, so after the happy ending Alice left us with not much happened for the rest of summer, so I'll skip to the beginning of the school term, or rather the annual trip to Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley, as mentioned before, is not the nicest place in the world, it stinks, it is dark, it is crowded, it is noisy it always looks like it is going to fall over and there are squibs lying in the gutter of every back alley. This year it was different, it stank, it was dark, but it was not crowded, nor was it noisy, nor were the squibs lying in the gutters of every back alley, it was scared, and when somewhere with the highest density of wizards in the world is scared, it means you should also be scared. The reason behind the fear was a poster which was plastered in every window, it was a wanted poster for Sirius Black, a mass murderer who had ratted out Harry's parents to Voldemort and then killed their friend and some muggles, any magician or squib we asked was willing to tell us that story in hushed tones, as though they may draw his ire just by telling his story, he had just escaped from Azkaban, which makes him the first person to ever succeed. This means Black was probably armed, probably dangerous and probably very clever, not the best combination.

"I wonder what this Black guy is like," my half-brother Drake said as we saw the same poster of Black, he was either laughing or screaming, the picture was not very clear, even when it moved. Drake, like myself, was a child of the goddess Hecate, meaning he would be more powerful than almost every other magician in the world one day, as long as he tried. He had not really changed much since the previous year, except he looked tired, like he had been losing sleep, he had also filled out a bit, thanks to more time practising swordsmanship, and he was now an inch taller than my other friend John.

John was a typical son of Athena, he was tall, strong and handsome, and that had not changed since the previous September, he was dressed in long sleeved grey jumper over a red shirt and blue jeans.

Alice was the fourth member of our little group as we wended our merry way through the paranoid streets of magical London, she had been my best friend since we were eight, she was a daughter of Iris, meaning she had a perchance for bright clothing, which she toned down in magical London, toned down being relative. Alice wore a sickly bright green jumper over a bright sky blue trousers and red shoes, needless to say, she drew a few strange looks as we walked through the streets. She had also grown since the last September, making the height gap between us even more pronounced.

I had grown slightly, meaning I was now taller than the average twelve year old as I came up on my fourteenth birthday, which was not embarrassing at all (sarcasm is sarcasm). After the disaster on Saint Valentine's day the previous year I had to concede that I was pretty, although, I refused to accept when Alice called me beautiful, in my mind that is a label for someone much older and prettier than me. I was dressed in a purple shirt, brown trousers, brown shoes and had put a bow in my long blond hair, after losing a bet with Alice I had to wear that bow all year.

"He's probably violent, insane and dangerous, so just like our old friend Luke," John said as he considered a sweet shop.

"Too soon," Drake said cringing, Drake had been the closest to Luke out of the three of us, Luke was, in case you forgot, a demigod turned renegade who was currently on a cruise ship somewhere trying to resurrect a titan and destroy Western Civilisation.

"True," John said as we turned a corner and bumped into our friends, Hermione, Ron and Harry, John literally bumped into Hermione, knocking a pile of books out her hands, I quickly cast a spell, preventing them from landing in a puddle.

"Holy Hades Hermione, got enough books?" Alice asked.

Hermione, who had recovered her books from floating inches from the ground, ignored her and turned to me, "not that I'm not grateful, but won't you get in trouble for..." I cut her off with a smile.

"No-one saw, they can't prove it, and I didn't use my wand so they can't trace it. So why so many books?" I asked, this time Hermione did answer.

"Well, most of these aren't actually for school, I decided recently to learn Ancient Greek, these are so I can teach myself, also, I got some books on mythology."

I laughed, Hermione glared, "Hermione, if you wanted to learn Ancient Greek, you could of asked me, or Alice, or gone to Professor Babbling, she runs extra courses on Ancient Greek, and Ancient Runes classes start this year the first language taught is Ancient Greek."

Hermione blushed, "I didn't think of that, anyway, we just got Ron's wand fixed, and now we were just heading off to Flourish and Blotts."

"Didn't you just come from there?" Drake asked.

"Hmm, no, these are from the new book shop, what was it called? Crete of Books? Colossus Knowledge? The Acropolis in the Square? It had some dreadful pun like that in the name, all the books are either teach yourself books for dead languages, or are written in dead languages."

We all looked at each other, that sounded interesting, "where is that?"

"Next to the frog merchant and the gnome remover," Hermione pointed in the direction of the other end of the street they were on. I looked around, Alice, Ron and Harry had all wandered off together, "I'd better go, it was nice bumping into you," she ran after them.

"Shall we go after them, or go see the new bookshop?" I asked.

"Bookshop," Drake said, whilst John just shrugged.


	2. Chapter 2

The bookshop's name was painted in large golden letters, Rhodes to Knowledge, the bookshop was not dilapidated, unlike the other shops, someone had evidently renovated recently. The outside looked like a normal shop from any muggle high street, it was painted blue with large windows showing off the books inside, the shop was bright and clean, far different from the surrounding grime. We entered the door, a little bell rang to proclaim our entrance, there was one other person in the shop, a man who turned and smiled when saw us, he strode over and energetically shook our hands.

"Hello, hello, good to meet you, my name is Coeus, welcome to my shop," Coeus was a tall man with brown hair that stuck up in every direction, piercing, yet somehow friendly, blue eyes, he was an average build, and had laughter lines etched into the corners of his eyes, mouth and around his small nose. He was walking around the store seemingly at random, he moved with an excitable, manic energy, like a small child, "my wife Phoebe is around somewhere," he stopped and scratched the back of his head, before starting to move again. "Oh wait, no, she went shopping, so it's just me," he turned back to us, "what can I do you for?"

"We were looking for books," Drake said hesitantly, none of us were sure what to make of him.

"Well, you came to the right place, I've got books on everything under the sky, and under the ground, and some things above the sky all in Greek, Latin, Babylonian, Norse, Hittite, Hieroglyphics, Sanskrit, and Phoenician." He sounded like he was gearing up for a song, which scared me. He was now wandering around the shops pointing at books, "geography, history, fantasy, mathematics, languages, sciences, arithmancy, magic, divination and even cheese." He just stopped, stopped walking, stopped talking.

"Mr," John started before Coeus continued.

"So, what'll it be?" Coeus asked as if he had never stopped turning back and staring us all in the eye.

"We were looking for some school books, in Greek," Drake tried.

"Oh school books, how dull," he turned back to us, he looked us all over, examining us for a longer time than felt safe, before speaking quietly, "oh wait, school books? Demigods," he smiled a toothy grin, a grin that made me feel very unsafe.

John gulped before speaking, "yes?"

"It's been a while since I've seen any relatives, not since the big guy let me out Tartarus," he seemed far too happy when he said that, which was not something I wanted to ever hear, the owner of our new bookshop had been in Tartarus.

"You were in Tartarus?" John asked as he subtly tried to push in front of me, which made no sense, he was unarmed, and I was the better combat magician.

"Oh yes, dreadful misunderstanding, after the war, my nephews got a little trigger happy with the eternal damnation to the pit. I had been neutral, but got thrown in with the rest, my wife had supported Zeus, and was eventually able to plead my case. Now I travel the world selling books, ignoring my family on the condition they ignore me." He smiled broadly, "it's worked, when did you last hear of Coeus, titan of inquisitive and rational thought, never." I had never even heard of him before, "so, what is going on? Sate an old man's inquisitive thought and tell me what is going on in the wider world," he smiled a smile at his own statement.

"Well, um, Kronos is trying to come back," Drake said, Coeus stopped smiling and frowned, he seemed to deflate slightly.

"Oh, that's not good, I might have to talk to my relatives after all, I had hoped to ignore them for a few more millennia, but this is not good," he had turned slightly grey, before returning to usual, "oh well, let's get you those books," his total 180 mood change took us by surprise. Drake handed him his book list, I handed him mine, as did John, Coeus frowned, "I'm disappointed, I have some far better textbooks than these, some have even been translated. Anyway, so, who's children are you?" He asked as if it were casual conversation as he plucked books off the shelves.

"Well, I'm a son of Athena," John said.

Coeus walked round the corner, but his voice came from behind us, causing us to jumped, "I always like my great niece, she's got a good head on her shoulders, when she chooses to use it. I do wish she'd stop thinking everyone was a threat though, it does get tedious, she's almost as bad as Neith, you know Neith? Of course not, you're Greeks, what am I talking about? Greeks never remember Neith," he sounded almost angry, "ah here we go," he was cheerful again. "Anyway, what about you two?"

"We're both children of Hecate," I said, there was the sound of a dropped book from around the corner.

"Did you say Hecate?" Coeus asked sticking his head around the corner, I nodded slowly, he rushed towards us and engulfed Drake and I in a hug. "It's so rare that I ever meet my great-grandchildren," he said releasing us, smiling wildly, "so, how's your mother, I haven't seen her in centuries, she never calls, never writes, not even a newfangled Iris message."

"Well, she was fine last time I saw her, about three years ago," I said awkwardly.

"Oh, that's good to hear, anyway, here are your books," he handed out three piles of books which he had not been carrying. "No charge for family, besides, I'm a titan whose greatest love beyond my wife is books. What could I need money for? I don't eat don't drink, although, I would like a sacrifice once in awhile, I've never had one before." His tone changed from wistful to a sort of angry sadness, "my children never reach camp you see, the satyrs ignore them because they smell different."

"I'll talk to Chiron," I said, Coeus hugged me again.

"Thank you," he pulled away with a look of surprise on his face, "I almost forgot," he scampered off into the back of the store, he returned with a bowl of some small objects wrapped in foil. "Coeus brand fortune cookies, one for you, and you and you," he hand handed around the cookies, "they always tell the truth, well open them up," he sounded like how I imagine an excitable dog would sound if it could talk.

I unwrapped mine and broke it open, inside was a little slip of paper with words written in Greek, " _not all is as it seems_ , _nor has it ever_ ," I read, "what does that mean," Coeus shrugged.

"They only mean something to the person who reads it, you may have to act on it, or against it," Coeus said calmly.

John went next, " _it will take more than knowledge to get you through_."

"Definitely a son of Athena," Coeus said smiling broadly.

Drake went last, " _the path you take will not end well_ , _but without you the future will fail_ , well that's just great, they get cryptic messages, I got you will fail and save the future, it basically says I'm going to die."

"You're mortal, you're all going to die, what's important is the legacy you leave and how you are judged." Coeus was looking a bit grim as he said it, then he perked up, "well, unless you get immortality, then you can wander the world and do whatever you like," he said smiling, "within reason," he added as an after thought

"It was nice meeting you Coeus," I said, mindful of the time, and the need to do more shopping.

"Please, call me Grandpa, and I still don't know your names," he sounded sad at that.

"I'm Janet, he's Drake, and he's John," I said as I pointed at the respective people.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, drop by any time," with that we left Coeus in his shop.


	3. Chapter 3

That evening I was sitting with Dad at dinner in the Leaky Cauldron common room when I decided to bring up the subject of family, "Dad, I met Mum's Grandfather today."

Dad stopped eating and looked at me curiously, "did you now?"

"Yeah, he's got a bookshop here, in Diagon Alley, he's really nice, he gave us our school books as a gift."

Dad raised an eyebrow, "why'd he do that? It doesn't sound like a good business plan."

"Well, he said that there was no charge for Drake and I because we're family, and it's been so long since he'd seen any family. Also, he's slightly crazy, but good crazy, funny crazy."

"You mean silly, crazy is never funny, especially when you're an Auror."

"Dad, do you have any family?" Dad stiffened, I continued nervously, "Cobblepot said you had a brother and sister, but you've never talked about them, and I've never seen a picture of them, or met them."

"I should have known you would have found out eventually," Dad looked sad, very sad as he stared into his drink, he was silent for so long I thought he had gotten distracted, or was asleep. "I have a brother, Alexander, and a sister, Alicia yes, my parents died not long after the war. My brother is an Auror, and my sister married one. We all fought alongside each other during the war, my brother and I couldn't stand each other, so he helped me leave for America. He gave me the money I used to buy our house and in return I would not darken his door, except by invitation, to save Alicia, or if you know who returned. That's why you never meet them, they still live behind that door, so I cannot return. My brother got married not long after I left, and my sister not long after that, but I received no invites to either wedding, or our parents funerals, and there are no pictures of them because I don't have a picture. The only correspondence I received was from Alexander, it was a very formal letter, little more than a note, that told me I was an uncle. I got it twelve years ago, so, your cousin will probably be starting this year."

"What's his name?" I asked, I was slightly excited to hear about the prospect of having more family than just Dad.

"Marc," Dad said before getting up and leaving the table, I realised at that moment that I had opened a closed wound, a scar that hurt him to this day.

"Dad," I called hurrying after him, he did not stop, "wait, I'm sorry that I brought it up, it's not your fault your brother cut ties, it's not your fault he doesn't talk to you. It's his fault for his actions always remember that," Dad turned towards me and smiled weakly.

"Thanks Jan," he pulled me into a big hug.

* * *

The next day was the journey to school, we were all on Platform 9 and 3/4 bright and early, Chiron wished each of us well, Dad wished well to Alice, John, Drake and myself, we were then left on the platform to decide which carriage to get on.

"This decision doesn't ever get easier," John said as we regarded the crowd, scanning it for familiar faces.

"Drake!" A voice called, it was from a member of Hufflepuff that I did not know, Drake looked at us, I gave him a smile and a little shooing motion, he smiled and ran off to his friend.

"Ah, there's Hermione," Alice said pointing at our friend, who was getting on with Ron and Harry, "come on."

John did not move, "I promised Luna I'd sit with her, and I always keep my promises, ah, there she is now," he pointed into the crowd, I could not see her, but John ran off into the crowd anyway.

"Whipped," Alice said when he was out of earshot, I chuckled, we walked over to the carriage our friends had just gotten on, after much hassle we managed to find which compartment they were in, it also contained one slightly dishevelled man in shabby robes. I did not recognise him, he had mousy brown hair that was a total mess, he looked ill, he had the drawn and tired look of someone recovering from an illness.

"And he is?" I asked.

"Professor R J Lupin," Hermione said, "I believe he is our new defence professor."

"You know everything," Ron said grumpily before turning to Harry, "how is it she knows everything?"

"It's on his case," Hermione said pointing at Lupin's case.

"Is he really asleep?" Harry asked, I slipped into the state where I can perform legilimency, Mr Lupin was definitely asleep.

"Yes," I said, "why do you ask?"

"Close the door," Harry said firmly, I flicked my wrist, shutting the door before anyone could move.

"Show off," Hermione muttered.

Harry leaned forward conspiratorially, "listen," he whispered I put up some wards against eavesdropping.

"Harry, you don't need to whisper, I've warded us," Harry nodded, Ron looked surprised, Hermione frowned and Alice was oddly distracted by something in the aisle.

"You know that escaped prisoner, Sirius Black?" Harry asked, we nodded, "well, he was a Death Eater, he told Voldemort where my parents were hiding. Well, when I somehow defeated him when I was a kid, Black lost everything and went to Azkaban, now that he's escaped, Minister Fudge and Ron's Dad think he's coming after me."

"Let me get this straight, Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban to come after you?" Ron said sounding sceptical.

"I agree with Ron, this sounds fishy," I heard a tapping on the glass door of the cabin and turned to see a first year standing there, I dissolved the wards around us, and opened the door with a flick of my wrist.

"Well that was impressive," he was a little shorter than me, which was good, I don't like it when people who are younger than me are taller than me. He had chocolate brown eyes and short black hair, he was pale and looked like he spent more time with books than he did outside. He swallowed nervously, "I'm sorry to bother you, but is there room in here for me? All the other compartments are full, if It's too much hassle, I can see if there's room somewhere else."

"Of course," Alice said moving up to make space, the kid smiled and sat down, "I'm Alice Smith, this is Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter," the kid suddenly went even paler and his eyes went very wide.

"The Harry Potter?" He asked, Harry cringed.

"Please, just Harry," our new friend nodded, but his eyes did not get any smaller.

"I'm Janet Harker," I said, realising I had been left off.

"Oh, you must be my cousin, I'm Marc Harker, what are the chances of that?" He asked smiling, "my Aunty talks a lot about your Dad, said he ran away to America to be with the lady he loved. I think that's very romantic, my Dad won't let anyone talk about him, calls him lots of nasty names, he doesn't like him much, I don't know why, Dad never answers."

"Dad won't tell me either," I said, "I think it's just general sibling rivalry, there is no other way to reduce grown men to squabbling children faster than sibling rivalry," Marc and Alice laughed.

Harry was staring out the window, his face creased in worry, 'Harry?' I thought at him, he jumped, he opened his mouth to speak, 'shh, only think, if you ever need to talk about anything I'll always listen.'

'Janet, I didn't know you could do this.'

I winked at him, 'there's a lot of things I can do, damn it that came out wrong,' around us Ron and Hermione were squabbling, Alice and Marc were trading stories and Lupin was still asleep.

'I'm just scared of Black, he helped murder my parents.'

'Not everything is always at it seems,' Harry looked at me in surprise.

'How did you find out what that crazy bookshop owner's fortune cookie said?'

'I didn't, until you just told me. Also, be more polite he's my great-grandfather,' Harry blushed, 'on my mother's side, so, you know, he's also immortal and very magical.'

'You have weird family,' I suppressed a laugh.

'You have no idea, eventually it gets so complicated we just call each other cousin and be done with it, the family tree looks like it was made by a drunk spider,' Harry laughed before he could stop himself, everyone stopped their conversations and looked at him weirdly.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked.

Harry was saved from answering by the train suddenly stopping, I was sent catapulting forwards, my head landing in Alice's lap, I blushed and quickly removed myself, Alice was blushing as well. "Why're we stopping?" Hermione asked looking at her watch, "we can't be there yet."

"Indeed," Marc said, "we can't have even crossed the border yet," the lights flickered.

I stuck my head out the compartment door, up and down the train people are doing the same, "nothing in the aisle, no-one pulled the brakes."

The room had started to cool considerably, "what's going on?" Ron asked, a thin wisp of steam escaped his mouth

"Nothing," I said, as I watched a black shape passed the window, I reached out with legilimency, and felt a horrible wrongness which made me wretch and almost hurl, a hand started rubbing my back as I retched.

"What is it?" Alice asked from by my ear.

"There's something out there, it's horrible and unnatural, I saw it pass the window, I tried to read it's mind, because I thought it was a person, and it just felt wrong, like it should be dead, and wanted to be dead, but wasn't," Alice hugged me and rubbed my back.

"It's gone now," she said quietly, when I eventually pulled myself together I set lights in the corners of the compartment. Suddenly, the train swayed violently to the rest before returning to normal, the window frame started to vibrate.

"Bloody hell, what's happening?" Ron practically shouted, his voice a higher pitched than usual with fear.

"Don't move," Lupin whispered, he had risen to his feet at some point. A hand appeared at the doorway, it was a skeletal hand, covered in scabbed and rotting skin, its arm followed, draped in torn cloth that hid it from view, soon followed by a tall robed body. Felix and Crookshanks, Hermione's cat hissed and spat, Frosty and Hedwig squawked in their cages. Whatever the creature was I could see no features besides the hand. The folds of the hood move and flutter then the temperature of the compartment dropped like a stone, my lights splutter and dim, I recognise the creature, a Dementor, a guardian of Azkaban. Harry collapsed. I jumped into action, Dementors are very difficult to kill with magic, they are immune to just about all wanded magic, and earth based elemental magic. " **Expecto patronum** ," I heard behind me, a shape shot at the creature, knocking it out the compartment, I slammed the door shut with a flick of the wrist, the Dementor shook the door, but was unable to open it, Dementors are scary, but are not physically very strong.

"Harry?" Hermione was asking as she tried to shake Harry awake.

"Leave him," Lupin said, "let him rest, not many survive encounters with Dementors, he's going to need his strength."

A tense half hour later, Harry groaned, Hermione was at his side in a flash.

"Harry? Harry, are you alright?" Harry groaned again, a visibly shaking Ron returned his glasses to him.

"Thanks," a snap sounded in the compartment, causing everyone to jump, Lupin handed Harry a piece of chocolate.

"Chocolate. Eat. It'll help," Harry stared at it in confusion.

"What was that, that thing? Harry asked as he nervously stared at the chocolate.

"A Dementor, one of the guards of Azkaban. It's gone now."

"Looking for its lost prisoner," I said, "well, I say looking, Dementors are generally believed to be blind and see the world through a sort of echolocation and by sensing fear."

Lupin blinked before smiling a wan smile, "someone has been doing some further reading, I believe that was in Herbot Hithlebotten's book, Soulless Creature of the Non-Corporeal Form."

I shrugged, "I can tell you it had a different name when I read it in Greek, it was simply called Soulless Ghosts."

"Greek, why would you want to read it in Greek?" Lupin asked.

"Well, my father taught me Ancient Greek from a young age, he claims I could speak Greek before I could speak English."

"How strange," Lupin said frowning, I shrugged, he got up, "I need to have a word with the driver. Excuse me," he turned back to Harry, "eat, it'll help," he left.

"Will it?" Harry asked me, I nodded, he shrugged and ate the chocolate, "what happened to me?" Harry asked.

"Well, you sort of went... rigid. We thought maybe you were having a fit or something," Ron said quietly.

"And did any of you? You know, pass out?" Harry asked.

"No," Ron said before frowning, "I felt weird, like, I'd never be cheerful again. But, no." Harry turned to Hermione. She shook her head.

"I was trembling. Cold. But then, Professor Lupin made it go away."

"I heard Grandma scream like she did just before she died, when she was in a lot of pain," Marc whispered slowly and quietly

"Dementors can show you your worst memory," I said, "they are attracted to bad memories and feed off all the good, happy memories, eventually driving someone insane, Harry and Marc just happened to have enough bad memories to attract them, I probably would as well, but my mind is shielded so they cannot feed off me"

"Nasty, so, I take it they were looking for Black?" Harry said.

"Yes, only reason they would be off Azkaban," I said.

We did not see Lupin for the rest of the journey, when we disembarked at the end of the journey Harry needed support from Alice and Ron to get him to the carriage. We greeted Hagrid as usual on our way past, I had to convince Marc that Hagrid was safe. We shared a carriage with John and Luna on the way up to the castle, Harry looking very ill the entire way.


	4. Chapter 4

The feast looked as lovely as it always did, unfortunately we had to wait for the first years to arrive, and for the hat to sing, and for the sorting, which took forever, I could practically hear everyone's stomachs grumble about the delay. Marc, as expected, was sorted into Gryffindor. I noticed Lupin was sitting next to Snape, but the two evidently did not like each other from their traded glares.

Dumbledore stood for his annual speech, he looked different, like something had changed, I was not sure what though. "Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say, before we become befuddled by our excellent feast. I myself am particularly looking forward to the flaming kiwi cups, which, while somewhat treacherous for those of us with facial hair..." McGonagall cleared her throat. "Mm, yes, first, I'm pleased to welcome Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts, good luck to you, Professor." Round of applause, "as some of you may know, Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher for many years, has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be filled by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid!" Round of applause from everyone bar most of Slytherin, Hagrid blushed as red as a lobster. Dumbledore looked uncomfortable as he gave his next announcement, "finally, on a more disquieting note, Hogwarts, at the request of the Ministry of Magic, will, until further notice, play host to the Dementors of Azkaban." He really sounded unhappy, this was a first, Dumbledore actually sounding worried about pupil safety. "The Dementors will be stationed at the entrances to the grounds. While they are under strict orders not to enter the castle itself, you will on occasion see them as you go about your daily activities. Under no circumstances are you to approach them. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving." No round of applause for that announcement.

* * *

After supper we were being lead away when McGonagall caught Hermione and I, "you two will come with me," she lead us out the Great Hall and into her office. "Now, when we asked pupils to fill out their forms for which lessons they want to take this year, you two ticked every single box. Normally, I would make you choose your options again, however, the Ministry caught word of this and decided to lend you two both one of these," she handed us each a leather box, they were small,about three inches cubed, I opened it to reveal a small golden necklace, shaped like gyroscope, it was carved all over with runes. "these are Time Turners, they were gifted to Ministry a long time ago by a magiscientist, the Ministry will want them back at the end of the year. They are for academic purposes only, no joy rides, you are not to tell anyone you have them, is that understood?" We nodded, "good, you press the sides of the Time Turner until the gyroscope inside spins, one spin will take you back one hour, you cannot go back further than twenty four hours in one week, and twelve hours in one go, if you try more, nothing will happen. You are dismissed."

"Thank you Professor McGonagall," Hermione said.

"Yes, thank you so much," I said tearing my eyes away from studying the runes.

"I had nothing to do with it, I was just told to gift them to you two. Now off with you," Hermione left, and I turned to follow.

"Um, Professor McGonagall, I had a look at the syllabus for this year in Ancient Runes, and noticed that it is on Ancient Greek and the Ancient Greek magic runes," McGonagall raised an eyebrow, "I am already fluent in both, so I was wondering if it was possible to skip this year's syllabus."

"I will talk with Professor Babbling, personally Janet, I think you could skip this year in most of your subjects, or even take the Transfiguration NEWT tests this year and get full marks, and from what I heard. The same is true in most of your subjects, especially charms, Flitwick called you one of the most capable student he has ever taught, and he doesn't give praise undeservedly," I blushed. "Of course, only time will tell with some of your new subjects."

"Thank you Professor, I will keep that in mind," I said as I turned to leave her office,

"Janet, one more thing," I turned to face her, "we are of course concerned for Mr Potter's safety with Black on the prowl. Because of this, but also out of concern for your safety, you are aware, I hope that your father was the one to arrest Black." I was surprised, Dad never mentioned that when we saw all the wanted posters. "It has been decided that for your own safety that you will not be allowed on Hogsmeade trips until Black is caught, even if your forms are complete," I was not a happy bunny after hearing this news.

"Professor McGonagall, I am more than capable of looking after myself, if Black does attack, I am a very capable duellist, I can think of several Aurors who would testify to that."

"Which is why you are being asked to stay by Harry's side when you are out of lessons, from what I have heard you are probably not only the best duellist in your year, but possibly the entire pre-Wombat student body. So if you were to be the one to look out for Harry he would be less likely to try and lose you as he would if it was myself or Flitwick." I could not argue with her logic, which really annoyed me, I sighed in defeat.

"Very well, I will keep an eye on Harry, good night Professor McGonagall," I said disheartened as I trudged out her office.

"Good night," she called after me.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning was our first divinations lesson, it was considered an easy class, and I doubted that I would ever actually see anything, seeing as I am not a daughter of Apollo. What had me interested was that it was being taught by a Professor Trelawny, the great-great-granddaughter of Cassandra Trelawney, the oracle of Delphi (her son having been born before she took the title) in the eighteen forties.

Alice and I found ourselves on one of the battlements of the castle scratching our heads, we had followed the directions Percy gave us to the the directions, and Percy never lied. "Was it a left turn at the last gargoyle?" Alice asked as I read over the instructions.

"Nope, we took all the right turns, well, except for the left turns" I said, "unless my translation charm is broken."

"Ah, you're early," an airy voice called, we looked up to see a face poking through a hole in the floor of one of the rooms on top of the turret, the face quickly withdrew and a rope ladder fell down out the hole, "come on up," the airy voice called, more muffled now, but still audible.

"After you," Alice said, holding the ladder steady, I climbed up and the held the ladder with magic for Alice.

"I am Professor Trelawny," the owner of the airy voice said, she was tall and thin, and reminded me of an insect of some kind. Her brown hair was curly, messy and stuck out like she had been electrocuted, it was barely restrained by the red and blue headscarf which was holding her hair out her eyes. Her eyes were hidden behind her massive thick glasses, but I think they were green, she wore a green dress and looked a bit confused as she bumbled about the dim room we had entered. The room was dark and had enough incense to make me sneeze, scattered around the room were some plump comfy seats and coffee tables. They were arranged on three layers, like an amphitheatre, with two seats to each table, although some had three. Trelawny, who had been fussing with an overladen desk jumped when she turned around and realised we were there, she appeared to have forgotten our presence, "oh, right, take a seat," I led Alice to the back of the room, taking the seat closest to the tiny open window, it was probably the only place in the entire room where it was not possible to suffocate in the incense cloud.

"Man, how does she stand this?" Alice asked as she sneezed, I pushed some of the fresh air that was coming through the window towards her, "thank you Janet," slowly everyone filled in, Harry and Ron were sitting on the table in front of us, with Neville on the table next to them with Drake. Draco was the last to arrive, for once not flanked by the goons, he walked over to the nearest empty seat, the one next to Parvati Patil, I reached out with the air and pulled the seat out from under him as he sat down. The room erupted into laughed, a very red faced Draco stood up and tried to sit down on the chair again, only for me to pull it away, red faced with rage, Draco grabbed the seat and held on as he sat down.

"Welcome, my children," Trelawney started staring off into nothing, 'oh boy this is going to be fun.' I thought sarcastically. "In this room, you shall explore the mysterious art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess the Sight," she paused for effect, "Hello, I am Professor Trelawney. Together, we shall cast ourselves into the future, but know this, one either has the Gift or not. It cannot be divined from the pages of a book. Books only cloud one's Inner Eye."

"What rubbish," Hermione muttered from the table next to us.

"Where'd you come from?" Ron asked, Hermione had just appeared there, I had felt her mind appear, this was her on her second trip through that hour.

"Me? I've been here all along," Hermione said with a perfectly straight face.

Trelawney pointed at Neville, "You, boy! Is your grandmother well?"

Neville paled, "I, I think so."

Trelawney narrowed her eyes, "I wouldn't be so sure of that," Neville almost fainted, "the first term will be devoted to the reading of tea leaves. If all goes well, we will proceed to palmistry, fire omens, and finally, the crystal ball," she turned to Parvati, "by the way, dear, beware a red-haired man." Parvati moved her chair in the opposite direction to where Ron was sitting. This whole thing seemed like a charade, but Dumbledore would surely not keep on a teacher for fourteen years if they could not teach. "Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu, I myself will lose my voice. And in late spring, one of our number will, leave us forever." Nervous glances were exchanged, I noticed she had not said die, I would look into that later, "well then, shall we?"

Trelawney then spent twenty minutes demonstrating the proper way to make tea for tea leaf readings, she then set us to work reading tea leaves, my first one was a message, _please leave the future to the professionals, Apollo_ , I sighed and swirled the cup, the message dissolved, it was replaced with a frowny face. "Broaden your minds, my dears. And allow your eyes to see, beyond," Trelawney said from the front as she stared at the ceiling. She then started moving, walking past, occasionally she would stop next to someone, "A five-leaf clover," she said taking Lavender Brown's cup, "you can expect to wake with a horrible rash tomorrow morning, dear. Mr Longbottom, after you've broken your first cup," Neville shattered his cup, they had been on the opposite sides of the room, but anyone could have guessed Neville would break his cup. I quickly repaired it for him, without telling him, so when he saw his cup repair itself he looked ready to faint, "someone catch him," Trelawney called, she was looking down into Parvati's cup, Neville fainted, Ron caught him before he could hit the ground and helped him back up onto his seat.

"What do you see in Mr. Potter's cup, Mr. Weasley?" Trelawney asked when she finally arrived at the two of them.

Ron squinted at the tea leaves, "Well, he's got a wonky sort of cross," Ron checked the textbook, "that's trials and suffering. But this lot here could be the sun," another referral to the textbook, "that's great happiness. So, he's going to suffer but be very happy about it."

Trelawney sighed and took the cup off him, she frowned before turning quite pale as she looked at Harry, "What is it, Professor?" Parvati asked.

"My dear boy, you have the Grim," Trelawney said in a sad quiet voice.

"The Grin?" Asked Neville, who was recovering on his seat, "what's the Grin?"

"The Grim," Parvati said leaning over, "not the grin, you idiot."

"But what does it mean, Professor?" Neville asked hysterically.

"Someone catch him," Trelawney said as she studied tea leaves.

"The Grim," Lavender said after she had consulted her textbook, "taking the form of a giant  
spectral dog, it is among the darkest omens in our world. It is an omen," she gulped, "of death." Neville fainted again.

"So, what have you got there dear?" Trelawney asked me as she picked up my cup.

"A frowny face, I think that means Apollo does not want me looking into the future," Trelawney laughed.

"No, it is a symbol of hard times ahead, swirl it again," I sighed, and swirled again, it now had an image of a scythe and the sun, "ah, there is death in your future, but love as well, after the death, or love then death, the future is unclear when two symbols form."

After the lesson Alice and I were making our way out the castle to Hagrid's hut when Babbling stopped me in a corridor, "it is good that I caught you Miss Harker, you may go Miss Smith," Alice looked ready to object.

"It's fine Alice, I'll catch up," she nodded and walked off.

"Miss Harker," Babbling said in her ancient, crackly voice, "the first thing I have to say is that there was no need for you to attend this morning's lesson, so do not use your time turner. Secondly, if you truly believe you can skip this years' syllabus then I will give you a test. Come to my office after dinner tonight, if you get an Exceptional then I will let you do something else, which I think you will find useful. I suppose I should also tell you young demigod, from experience." I must have gasped because she laughed, it was sort of a wheezing chuckle, "don't worry, I won't tell anyone, I am a daughter of Fabulinus after all."

"Fabulinus?" I asked, I did not recognise the name.

Babbling smiled weakly, "she's very obscure, she's the Goddess of language, she kept to herself and none of siblings publicly did any great deeds. Anyway, from experience, knowledge is always the sharpest weapon, and the least likely to break. So, if you ever need help, you know who to talk to, by the by, please tell Chiron I said hello, I haven't seen him in eighty years, now, off with you, don't want to make you late for your next class."


	6. Chapter 6

I caught up to everyone outside Hagrid's hut, Hermione was ranting at Ron, and Ron was too Ron to ask her to be quiet, "death omens." Hermione snorted as I walked up behind her, "honestly. If you ask me, Divination's a very woolly discipline. Now Ancient Runes, that's a fascinating subject."  
"Hermione," she jumped and turned to face me, "whilst I agree Trelawney may not really be able to tell much about the future, I wouldn't totally discredit her due to eccentricity, it is very hard for a seer to see the future on demand, so she may have to make some things up."

Hermione snorted, "some things, I doubt she has ever seen anything in her life, you're just backing her up because it follows your beliefs."

"Maybe, but you are just attacking her because of your beliefs from muggle science that future cannot be seen, however, I know several people in the States who can predict minor things, like the weather and illnesses, so it is possible Trelawney knows what she's talking about."

"Or, they watch the weather and have medical training," Hermione snorted.

"Wait a minute," Ron shouted, the two of us stared at him, "if you were in Ancient Runes, and that was on at the same time as Divination. How were you in Divinations, were you in two places at once?"

"Don't be ridiculous Ron," Hermione said as she stomped off to where John and Harry were standing.

"Don't be mad at her," a voice said behind me, I spun to see Alice, "so, how did your talk with Babbling go?"

I looked at Ron, "fine," he said raising his hands in mock surrender, he walked off to where Neville was talking to Dean and Seamus.

"I'm taking a test for next year runes, to see if I can skip, and but something else happened," I looked around nervously, no-one was watching us, and there was a wide enough gap around us for me to be able to whisper to Alice and for no-one else to hear. "Babbling is a demigod," Alice gasped in surprise, "a Daughter of Fabulinus, the goddess of language."

Alice smiled, "figures, well that's good, we now have two teachers we can talk to about our problems, and one of them isn't Snape."

The door to Hagrid's hut banged open and the half-giant himself stepped out, "c'mon now, get a move on! Got a real treat for yeh. Great lesson comin' up. Follow me," Hagrid led us across the fields, streams and into the woods, until we reached a small clearing containing an iron rack hung with dead small animals. "Gather 'round, find yerself a spot, " Alice and I sat on a fallen log next to Harry, John and Ron, "that's it, now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books."

"And exactly how do we do that?" Draco sneered, and for once I agreed with Draco, everyone's copy of Monster Book of Monsters was firmly held shut by whatever method available to stop them biting. Spellotape, belts, rubber bands, even laces, well, I say everyone, Alice's appeared to be asleep and purring softly as she sat it on her lap.

"Crikey, Didn' yeh know? All yeh've got ter do is stroke 'em, look," he grabbed Hermione's book and pulled off the spellotape, the book started biting, Hagrid calmly stroked the spine of the book, the book quivered and opened.

"Please open," Alice said, her book seemed to sigh happily before opening to the first page. Around the clearing people were having different levels of difficulty as they tried to open their books, mine had run off and attacked Neville's the two of them were fighting as Neville and I tried to catch them.

"Righ' then," Hagrid said as he swung his arms at his sighed and licked his lips, "so, so, yeh've got yer books, an' now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Right, so, I'll, I'll go an' get 'em," he disappeared off into the forest.

"God, this place is going to the dogs, wait until my father hears Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes," he laughed, followed nervously by the other Slytherin, aware of the number of angry eyes now glaring at them.

"Listen you stupid little prat," Harry said as stalked angrily over to Draco.

Draco's eyes widened in mock terror, as he pointed behind Harry, "Potter, there's a Dementor behind you," Harry whirled to find nothing, the Slytherin members started making mocking ghost sounds as they pulled their hoods up.

"Draco, at least it didn't take Harry three attempts to sit on a chair," I said just loud enough for him to hear.

Draco went crimson with rage and embarrassment, "listen you stupid little pest, someone was moving my chair, I bet it was you, or Potter."

"Draco, how could we have done that?" I asked with wide innocent eyes, "we were on the other side of the room, and you didn't hear us say any spells did you?"

Draco turned even more crimson, "look, I will sit on a seat now," he walked over to small rocky outcrop and as he sat down I moved the stone backwards, he was standing in such a way that no-one could see the rock, I moved the rock, he landed on the soil and leaf litter, everyone laughed, even Crabbe and Goyle.

"You were saying?" I said.

"'Ere we go," Hagrid said as he led a Hippogriff into the clearing, a Hippogriff looks similar to a cross between a Pegasus and a Griffin. It has the head, wings and front legs of an eagle, but the body shape and hindquarters of a horse, this particular one was a sort of bluish colour, "beau'iful, isn' he?" Hagrid said smiling broadly. Alice's eyes had gone very wide and she was smiling very broadly as she stared unblinking at the Hippogriff

"Hagrid," a nervous Ron said, "exactly what is that?"

"A Hippogriff, o' course, now, firs' thing yeh gotta know is they're proud, easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it migh' be the las' thing yeh do, right then, who wants ter come an' say hello?" The class stepped back leaving me Harry and Alice on our log, even Ron moved backwards, by falling off and scrambling away, "go on 'arry," Hagrid said smiling broadly. Harry reluctantly approached, "tha's it. Easy now, stop!" Harry froze instantly, "this 'ere's Buckbeak, 'arry. Yeh want ter let 'im make the firs' move, it's polite, see? Jus' take step forward, give 'im a bow, and if Buckbeak bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. Ready?" Harry swallowed and nodded nervously, he licked his lips and stepped forward and bowed to the Hippogriff, Buckbeak cocked its head and studied him with great interest. "Back off Harry," Hagrid whispered, Harry stepped back, Buckbeak bowed a shallow bow, Hagrid let out a sigh of relief, "Well done, Harry! Go on, give 'im a pat." Harry stepped forward and put his hand on Buckbeak's beak. The class cheered and clapped, Harry smiled, "Look at that, I reckon 'e migh' let yeh ride 'im!"

Harry stopped smiling and froze like a rabbit in the headlights, "excuse me."

"We'll jus' set yeh behind the wing joint, mind yeh don' pull any feathers out, 'e won' like that," Hagrid easily lifted Harry and set him on Buckbeak's back, "off yeh go," Buckbeak galloped forward and shot off into the sky.

"Please can I go next Hagrid?" Alice asked.

"Oh course, 'ave you ever ridden an 'orse before?" Hagrid said very pleased with himself.

"I've ridden pegasi, I've even broken some in," Alice said happily.

"My my, don' see many pegasi aroun' 'ere any more, scared 'em all off," Hagrid said sadly, "true 'at is."

Harry returned and landed in the clearing, "good work, Harry!" Up ya go Alice," Alice stepped forward, Buckbeak looked at her and bowed low to her. Hagrid looked surprised, "rare 'at is, Buckbeak don' normally bow to no body, an' never like 'at," Alice bowed in return, she walked forward and gracefully vaulted up onto Buckbeak's back, Buckbeak galloped off and took to the skies.

"You won't get her off now," I said smiling as my friend circled overhead before leaving my eyeline.

"She likes 'er animals 'at one," Hagrid said.

"Yep, she spends most of her free time flying about on a pegasus, animals love her," a couple of minutes later Alice landed, she was positively glowing with happiness.

"Give me a go at that thing," Draco shouted as he pushed past me, "if Potter and Smith can do it, it must be easy, you're not dangerous at all, are you, you great ugly brute."

"Draco, no!" Hagrid shouted, it was too late, Buckbeak had reared and slashed at Draco with a powerful taloned forelimb. The claws tore through his sleeve and into the flesh of his arm beneath as he raised his arm to protect his head, blood seeped from the wound. Draco collapsed backwards screaming in pain. Buckbeak raised its talons again ready for the kill, but Alice stepped forward with her arms outstretched and stood in its way.

"NO!" Alice shouted, Buckbeak squawked indignantly, but lowered himself and nuzzled up to her, Alice started talking quietly to him.

"It's killed me! It's killed me!" Draco screamed as he started crying.

"Calm yerself, 'tis but a scratch," the wound was not a scratch, it was very deep, but not life threatening.

"Hagrid," Hermione said, "he's got to be taken to a hospital. I'll go with you, if you like."

"No, I'm yeh teacher, um, yeh jus', jus' write notes about Hippogriffs, class dismissed," he scooped up Draco and ran towards the castle.

"Poor Hagrid," John said with a sigh as he glared at the retreating form of Draco's goons as they, "finally gets to be a teacher, and now Draco might have ruined it for him, poor guy. What is Alice doing?" Alice had started talking to Buckbeak in an incomprehensible babble, like someone talking to dog and was stroking the Hippogriff's side.

I shrugged, "she's like that with Skippy as well, and every other animal."

"Wow," Harry said as he walked over to join us. Alice had now started tickling Buckbeak under the chin, causing him to stamp his back legs and pant like a dog, "isn't she scared she might do something that Buckbeak won't like?"

"Nope," I said, "there was this one time in Idaho where I was getting chased by an escaped zoo lion," this got Alice's attention.

"We are not talking about the lion incident," she shouted, "or I'm telling the dwarf story," I gulped and nodded, my cheeks flushing, "good, I'm glad we have an agreement."

"We should probably do something," John said, " I mean, we now have what? Thirty minutes? I'm sure we could be spending it better than just watching Alice play with a Hippogriff."

"No," Alice said, "the only better way would be to ride said Hippogriff, but I don't have Hagrid's permission."

I sighed, "well I'm going to the library, I've got some books I want to find," Alice made a sound, I turned, she looked torn between two options as she looked from me to the Hippogriff and back again, Buckbeak squawked and took off.

"I'll come with you," she said merrily as she walked over, Harry and John soon followed.


	7. Chapter 7

After lunch was potions, which went as well as could be expected, better even, as Neville actually made a working potion, so, that was an improvement over almost every other potions lesson. Also, Draco was not in it, so that was also better than expected, but, alas, the Draco joke could not continue. After potions I had herbology, but Sprout had been injured in a lesson with the fifth year, so the lesson was cancelled as was history of magic, because Binns had been summoned away for a funeral of all things.

Draco did turn up at supper, but, alas, I could not move the bench, there were too many people on it, Draco was seriously hamming it up as people gathered around to help with everything. "The little git," Ron grumbled into his linguini, "he's really laying it on thick, isn't he?"

I reached for the salt, "Ron, at least Hagrid still has a job."

"Yes," Hermione said frowning, "but, I heard Draco's father is absolutely furious, I don't think we've heard the end of this."

"He's been seen," Neville said excitedly as he sat next to us.

"Who?" Ron asked, Neville gave Ron a look of disappointment.

"Black you dunce, who else? Santa Claus?" Everyone in earshot burst out laughing, except Ron, who blushed, Neville handed Hermione a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Achintee? That's not far from here," Hermione muttered.

"You don't think he'll attack Hogwarts do you?" Ron asked nervously picking at his bread.

"With Dementors at every entrance?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Dementors?" Ron said incredulously, "he's already slipped by them once, hasn't he? Who's to say he can't do it again?"

"That's right," Bem the new transfer student from the Old Oyo school of mysticism said, "Black could be anywhere, it's like trying to catch smoke, like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands."

"Well, on that cheery note," I said as I stood up, "I have to go see Professor Babbling, see you later everyone."

* * *

I reached Babbling's office five minutes later and knocked on the door, it swung open, "ah, Miss Harker," Babbling said happily, "please sit," she gestured at a chair. Babbling's office was very Spartan, there was a heavy writing desk, bare except for three quills and three ink pots, there was a large leather chair behind the desk and a filing cabinet next to it. The chair I was on was seated at another, smaller desk at the back of the room, on the walls were at least seventy pictures of groups of people, each had a plaque beneath them. "My classes, everyone I ever taught, your father is in one of them, I'm not sure which one, but you can look later," she reached into the top drawer of the filing cabinet. "Here we are," she pulled out a leaf of paper, "last years' WOMBAT exam on Ancient Greek and Greek magic symbols." She put the paper down in front of me and handed me a quill and ink pot, "you have an hour, I will leave you in silence so you can think," she left the room, I opened the paper and to my relief it was entirely in Greek.

An hour later, Babbling returned, "time's up, you can collect your results tomorrow morning, I'm afraid, I have some holiday work to Marc for the seventh year." She smiled at me, "you look so much like your mother," I froze.

"How do you know who my mother is?" I asked.

"My dear," Babbling said smiling happily at me, "I have known hundreds of demigods and dozens of Gods, only children of Hecate are as proficient as you are with magic. Well, you are much better than most other child of Hecate I've ever met, I suppose that makes you the most gifted of your siblings, don't tell your brother though."

I smiled, "thank you Professor, goodnight," I said as I walked to the door.

"Good night," I left the curious old lady to her work.

* * *

The next morning was our first Defence against the Dark Arts lesson, everyone was curious about the new Defence teacher after rumours started swirling over how he valiantly fought off a Dementor, no two Dementors, no ten Dementors, as time went on the rumours got stranger and stranger as they continued through the school. As I have said in the past, rumour travels faster than fiendfyre at Hogwarts, still not as fast as at Camp though. The lesson started late, so we were all sitting at our desks, books at the ready when Lupin walked in, Draco was in a foul mood after the return of the moving seat, "put your books away, we will be having a practical lesson," I shuddered as I remembered defence's last practical lesson with Lockhart. I could still hear Nick pleading for us to stop the bees, but Lockhart could not remember the spell, by the time we got the bees off him he looked like a pumpkin. "Come on, we're going to the teacher's lounge," we all hesitantly put away our books and followed Lupin to the teacher's lounge, I had never been in the teacher's lounge before, and it was underwhelming, it was a bit bigger than the Gryffindor Common Room, there was a faded rug that covered most of the floor, around the edge was assorted armchairs, sofas, tables and desks, in the centre of the rug was a wardrobe which shook as we walked in, the only teacher in the room was Snape, he was reading in an armchair, he looked up as we entered.

"Professor Lupin, I have noticed your class contains Neville Longbottom, I trust you are not going to ask him to actually cast a spell. Because, considering how much damage he can do with one simple potion, I shudder to think about what he would manage if he actually used his wand," Neville was now hiding behind me, quivering like a jelly in an earthquake.

"Of course I'm going to ask him to cast a spell, only if he wants to, I have faith that with proper guidance Mr Longbottom will prove an at least adequate duellist," Snape glowered and stormed out the room.

"Well that was impolite of him, anyway," he gestured at the wardrobe, "would anyone like to venture a guess as to what's inside?"

"That's a Boggart that is," Seamus said quietly. I felt Hermione appear at the back of the class, or rather I felt her mind appear at the back of the class, it was quite disorientating to have a mind unexpectedly appear on the edge of my senses.

"Very good, Mr Finnigan. Can Anyone tell us what a Boggart looks like?"

"No-one knows," Hermione said, Ron jumped, cursed and spun round to face her.

"When'd she get here?" Ron asked as he scratched his head.

"Boggarts are shape-shifters," Hermione continued, ignoring the ginger haired clown. "They take the shape of whatever a particular person fears most, that's what makes it so..." Hermione frowned as she searched for a word.

"Terrifying?" Lupin offered, "yes, luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a Boggart, let's practice it now, shall we? Without wands, please, Riddikulus!" Everyone repeated the charm. "Good, that's the easy part, you see, the incantation alone is not enough, what really finishes a Boggart off is laughter. You need to force it to assume a shape you find truly amusing, Neville, come up here, will you?" Neville gulped and walked forward, "what would you say is the thing that frightens you most?" Neville muttered an unintelligible response, "didn't catch that, Neville, sorry."

"Professor Snape," everyone laughed, but only Slytherin laughed maliciously.

Lupin nodded thoughtfully, "hmmm, yes, Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"

Neville turned pale, "yes, but I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either."

Lupin laughed good-naturedly, as did "It won't, but, I want you to picture her clothes, only her clothes, very clearly in your mind, can you do that?" Neville nodded.

"She carries a red handbag," Neville started before Lupin interjected.

"That's fine, we don't need to hear it, if you see it, we will. Now, when I open this wardrobe, Neville, here's what I want you to do," he whispered in Neville's ear, Neville smiled and nodded, "you can do this, Neville." Neville nodded nervously, he took a deep breath, "right then, wand at the ready," Neville shakily held up his wand, "one, two, three," sparks shot from Lupin's wand and the hit the doorknob, the door to the wardrobe swung open and Snape stepped out.

" **Riddikulus** ," Neville cast, there was a puff of smoke and suddenly Snape was wearing a long lace trimmed grey dress, a massive vulture hat and a crimson handbag, the class roared with laughter, except for the Slytherin who looked angry and ready to attack Neville.

"Ron, forward," Ron stepped forward, only to shy back slightly when he was faced with a giant spider.

" **Riddikulus** ," the spider was now on roller skates, causing it to skid out of control and fall to the ground.

"Parvati," Lupin called, Parvati stepped forward, the spider became a stereotypical vampire, complete with powdered face, cape, ruffled shirt, high collar and even higher hair.

" **Riddikulus** ," the vampire was now dressed as a samba dancer and forced to dance against his will.

"Alice," I held my breath as Alice stepped forward, the vampire became Luke, he had one hand held out, Lupin went pale and looked uneasy at the appearance of Luke.

" **Riddikulus** ," Luke turned into Snape sitting on the floor playing playing pat-a-cake with the air.

"Janet," I was genuinely interested, I had no clue what I was scared of, I never had nightmares, I was not really scared of anything, I had never really been scared, I stepped forward. Snape looked up at me and scratched his head, he then smiled, he turned into me, with a dead body at my feet, I could not see the body's face, it was hidden behind a white veil.

" **Riddikulus** ," my doppelgänger turned into Draco, Snape and Quirrell in a conga line.

"Harry," Harry stepped forward, the conga line turned into a Dementor, everyone panicked, "here!" Lupin called out, the Dementor turned and changed into mist and a silver glowing disk, Lupin froze for a moment, just staring at the disk in terror before finally finding his voice, " **riddikulus** ," the disk turned into a balloon with the knot undone, the balloon flew back into the wardrobe, the door slammed shut. "Well, I think that's enough excitement for one day," Lupin's Boggart confused me.

'What was it?' I thought to myself, 'a disk, it was shining and silver, perfectly round, well, that sounds like the moon, maybe he's scared of the dark? No, it would have turned into total darkness then, maybe it's the full moon, he must be scared of werewolves? No it would have become a Werewolf if that was the case. Why the moon?' I was pulled out my thoughts by a hand on my shoulder, it was Lupin's, he had a hand on Alice's as well.

"Can I talk to you two for a minute please?" I gulped, I did not want to talk about my Boggart with him, but there were no other options.

"Of course professor," I said biting my bottom lip nervously.

"You're not in trouble, I am just simply confused by your Boggarts, Janet, you are scared of yourself, and Alice you are scared of that boy, do you want to talk about it?"

"That boy is a criminal in America," Alice said quietly before pick up in volume, "he tried to kill Janet, myself and many other in the summer, he keeps trying to recruit me, he's like, an American Voldemort. He wants a new world order and will kill anyone to get to it."

"I'm unsure if that's better or worse than my first idea of an abusive relationship," Lupin said sadly, "I'm sure the Aurors will get to him eventually."

"My Boggart is because I'm aware of what I am capable of," I said sadly, "a year and a half ago now, roughly, I was with my Dad, who's an Auror, investigating some low level ghost activity. He knows I want to be an Auror, so he decided something simple with ghosts would be fine, things escalated, I ended up fighting a crazy wizard," I froze and wiped a tear from my eye, "and I almost killed him," I fought to keep my voice unbroken as memories washed over me. "I'm now scared to use my legilimency for anything beyond mind reading because of it."

"Hmm, so, you're a legilimencer? You shouldn't be scared of your own abilities because of one incident, just don't let it happen again. If you do become an Auror, which I am sure you are more than capable of, if you have the capacity to do something and you don't, it may cost lives."

"Thank you Professor," I said, he smiled and walked out the room.


	8. Chapter 8

That evening when I was undressing for bed I found a folded piece of paper in my pocket, I opened it to reveal a note written in somewhat passable Greek, " _I know you're a demigod, Lupin._ " I was shocked and confused, 'how does Lupin know? Did someone tell him, no, everyone who knows is under oath, unless it was Babbling. But, why would Babbling tell Lupin of all people? Think Janet,' I reached out with my senses and soon found Babbling in her office, she was marking, 'Professor Babbling?' I thought at her.

'Janet, oh my goodness, please, never do that again unannounced, you almost gave me a heart attack, let me know somehow. I'm not as young as I used to be. Now dear, what is the matter?'

'Lupin knows I'm a demigod, I didn't tell him, I doubt anyone else did either, but he left a note in my pocket which said that he knew.'

'Hmm, I didn't tell him, but I doubt Lupin would tell anyone, he has his own secrets, and they are enough to not tell anyone about us. Us being known as demigods would make life a little difficult, but, his would see him hounded out of civilisation.'

'Are you sure?' I was nervous, if he told anyone life would be a little bit more than dangerous, we would be royally screwed, every wannabe dark lord would be hunting us.

'Oh yes, quite sure, also, while we're talking dear, I have your test score, you got full marks, please come to your next Ancient Runes lesson to get your new textbooks. There is something I want to teach you, or rather want you to teach yourself.'

I blushed, I had forgotten about the test score, 'thank you Professor,' I retracted my senses, it was at this point Alice burst in to see me standing totally naked in front of her.

"Eep, sorry," she blushed, but did not turn away, I quickly pulled on my nightshirt, "um, did you, um, get a note, um, from Lupin too?" She said, her blush deepening with every word as she stared at the floor and shifted from leg to leg.

"Yes, I talked to Babbling about it, well, not really talked, but you know, she doesn't think it will be a problem, apparently she knows some big secret about Lupin that will keep him quiet." Alice nodded and walked out, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Two weeks later was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, pupils from our year and above walked out the gate, showing signed permission forms to Filch as they left. Alice, John and Drake had all offered to stay, but I had shooed them off, it was only going to be me stuck guarding Harry, I was not going to deprive them of their fun, so I was now sitting high in one of the unused towers.

"Remember!" McGonagall announced in an amplified voice, "these visits to Hogsmeade Village are a privilege. Should your behaviour reflect poorly on the school in any way, that privilege shall not be extended again," Harry approached her, but before he could utter a syllable, "no permission form, no visiting the Village, that's the rule, Potter."

Harry talked to McGonagall, who shook her head, sending Harry back into the castle, 'Harry,' I thought at him, he looked around in confusion, 'look up,' Harry looked up at the other tower, 'wrong tower,' he turned to my tower, I formed a fireball in my palm, he rushed into the castle.

Ten minutes later he burst into the room I was sitting in, totally out of breath, "Janet? How did you? Voice in my head? You did it before, but never explained how."

'Legilimency, mind magic, it's how I found Neville's toad on the train the first time we met,' I thought at him.

"So, you're like a telepath then?" I cringed.

'Telepathy is different to legilimency, in very complicated ways I don't want to explain, but for the intents and purposes of keeping this simple, yes, I'm a telepath.'

"So, what can you do with legilimency?"

'I can communicate with people at a distance and in secret, its how Alice and I have our silent conversation, I could read every thought in your head. Although, without permission that's illegal, but it's almost impossible to prove. Then there's the more sinister side of legilimency, I could knock you out, influence your actions, wipe your mind, make you live your worst nightmare, maybe even kill you, but I would never do those last ones to anyone.'

"That's kind of scary, I mean, I already knew you could beat me in a duel but, to know you could it without raising a finger," Harry paled and shuddered, I smiled faintly at him, "so can any legilimencer do this?"

'No, take Snape for example, he can read minds, he may be capable of communicating, but might not know how, however, I doubt he can do the others, most of them require child of Hecate levels of magic.'

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that, it hasn't really been talked about since first year."

'Because we always step around the subject whenever possible, however, I'm thinking of telling Ron. But I would like to get the other Demigods in our year to agree first, Ron was not ready in first year or second year, and I'm not sure about now, but soon. Unless of course he finds out by himself'

"Well, it's your choice," Harry said.

I felt a mind approaching, I identified it as Lupin, he seemed to be searching, 'Lupin is coming.'

"Ah, here you two are," the dishevelled professor said, "I'm sorry you two weren't allowed out, but, don't feel too bad. I was roundly disappointed the first time I went."

"Really?" Harry asked sceptically.

"No," Lupin said sadly, "I was just trying to make you feel better. Honeydukes' sweets are the best in the world, their Pepper Imps are so strong you smoke at the ears, and Zonko's Joke Shop may be dangerous, but you can't beat their Stink Pellets." Harry's face fell, and he stared at the floor.

"Not to mention The Shrieking Shack, which, according to Hermione, is the most severely haunted building in Britain," Harry sounded very downhearted at the thought of not visiting the shack.

"Yes, that too," Lupin's eye twitched and he had an unreadable expression on his face as he regarded Harry.

"Professor, can I ask you something?" Harry asked as he look up at older man.

"You'd like to know why I stopped you from facing the Boggart, I should think it'd be obvious, I assumed the Boggart would take the shape of Lord Voldemort," Harry frowned, Lupin eyed him cautiously.

"I did think of Voldemort first, but then, I remembered that night on the train, and the Dementors," Harry shuddered.

Lupin smiled warmly at him, "well, well, I'm impressed, that suggests that what you fear most of all is, fear, very wise," I began contemplating ways to leave the conversation, this seemed like a rather private conversation.

"Before I fainted, I heard something, a woman. Screaming," Lupin frowned.

"Dementors force us to relive the worst memories of our lives, our pain becomes their power," Harry nodded.

"I think it was my mother, the night she was murdered," Lupin frowned again.

"The first time I saw you, Harry, I recognized you immediately, not by your scar, by your eyes, they're your mother Lily's," Harry stared at Lupin in surprise, Lupin nodded. "Yes, I knew her, she was there for me at a time when no one else was, we used to talk for hours, she was not only a singularly gifted witch but an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in whoever she met, even, and perhaps most especially, when that person couldn't see it in themselves." Lupin's eyes glazed over in memory and I got the feeling he was talking about himself, then he blinked, and smiled. Which perhaps explains her affection for your father, James had, shall we say, a certain talent for trouble, a gift, rumour has it, he passed on to you. Lupin turned, eyed Harry affectionately, like a father, or an uncle. Harry smiled vaguely as he stared into the middle distance, "I could tell you stories and there are many about your parents, Harry, but know this," he stared at Harry intensely. "They lived, every moment of every day, you should know that, that's how they'd want to be remembered."

I decided at this point that I really should have left the room earlier, I eyed the window and wondered if I could jump from it and use air magic to stop myself on the way down, I then wondered if I could use it to fly. I shook my head to the idea out, I instead walked out the door and went to study one of the books Babbling had lent me. It was called The Language of Magic by C Sorrows, it was all about the symbols used to enchant and ensorcel objects as well as create wards and strengthen walls. I already knew how to do several of the spells in the book with the Greek symbols, like turning Draco into a ferret in first year, and setting up wards against monsters. This was far more comprehensive and with practice might even be easier to use.

* * *

In the Great Hall later that evening Harry and I had to hear our friends talk about Hogsmeade, "and the post office!" Hermione exclaimed, "it's got about 200 owls," like every other magic post office, "all sitting on colour coded shelves, depending on how fast you want your letter to go!"

"And Honeyduke's is brilliant!" A sugar high Ron shouted, "Sugar Quills, Flaming Whizbees and blood-flavored lollipops for Halloween!"

"Ron?" I asked calmly, "why the Hades would you want a blood-flavoured lollipop, those are for vampires," Ron opened his mouth but only a croaking sound came out, he blushed and closed his mouth.

"But, I mean, after awhile, it got a bit boring, don't you think, Ron?" Hermione said quickly as she noticed a sullen Harry, I was not as angry as I should have been, to be honest it sounded like any other magic town I had been to with Dad.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, dead depressing, hang on, I almost forgot, I got you something wicked at Dervish and Banges, it's a Pocket Sneakoscope," he put a small glass spinning top on the table. "If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's meant to light up and spin, mind you, Fred and George say it's rubbish, sold for wizard tourists, but I thought, you know, it can't hurt, given that," Ron appeared to be trying to think about something to say, which was a first.

"Sirius Black is trying to kill me," Harry finished for him. "I'm glad you had a good time, really, and thanks for this," Harry eyed the Sneakoscope, "rubbish or not, you're right, it can't hurt."

Harry put a pepper imp into his mouth, "oh, careful of those, they'll make your," as if on a cue, smoke curled from Harry's ears and nose as his eyes started watering and he started panting. He grabbed for the jug of water nearby, "never mind," Ron muttered.


	9. Chapter 9

Later that evening we were heading back to the Common Room when we encountered a large group of people standing around the entrance to the Common Room, "what's the hold-up? Ron asked, "only Neville ever forgets the password," Neville glared at Ron but said nothing, partly because it was true.

It was times like these when I really hate being short, being in a crowd and not being able to see what everyone else was seeing is really annoying, I was contemplating the problems with my height when Percy started pushing through, "let me through, please, excuse me, thank you, I'm Head Boy." He was a little way ahead of us when he stopped, he spun around, his eyes bulging in fear and started shouting orders. "Back! All of you! No one is to enter this dormitory until it has been fully searched!"

We exchanged glances, 'what has happened that has Percy so riled up?' I wondered as I saw a familiar face emerge from the crowd, it was Ginny and she was very ashen faced.

"The Fat Lady, she's gone," Ginny said quietly as she reached us.

"Probably stuffing her face with the apples in that still life on the second floor again," Ron said angrily.

Ginny glared at her idiot brother, "no, you don't understand," Alice jumped and grabbed my arm, I looked up, the crowd had parted to reveal the portrait of the Fat Lady torn to shreds.

Just then Dumbledore, McGonagall and Filch arrived, "oh my," McGonagall said in shock as she covered her mouth with one gloved hand.

"Mr, Filch," Dumbledore said to Filch, "round up the ghosts, tell them to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."

A scream pierced the air, everyone ran in the direction of the sound, the Fat Lady was cowering in the background of another portrait, "there'll be no need for ghosts, Professor," Filch said with a lopsided smile.

"Dear lady, who did this to you?" Dumbledore asked, his voice devoid of emotions.

The Fat Lady, whose voice is usually loud, booming and full of emotion, spoke quietly and as if she were in a trance, "eyes like the devil he's got, and a soul as dark as his name, it was him, Headmaster." She spoke far louder now, but still devoid of emotions, "the one they talk about, he's here, somewhere in the castle, Sirius Black."

The effect was immediate, pupils started talking, some excitedly, most were people terrified, some even rushed off to the bathrooms, everyone quietened when Dumbledore spoke, "secure the castle, Mr Filch, the rest of you, to the Great Hall," McGonagall started shepherding us in the direction of the Great Hall, I extended my senses, searching for the mind of Sirius Black, but I could not find him, he was not hiding in the castle in any form that I could track.

We spent the night in the Great Hall, and the next day it was announced that while the Fat Lady was being repaired Sir Cadogan would be taking over, Sir Cadogan was a short knight standing in a field of grass wielding a sword, which he would swing at anyone who approached, he was annoying, insane and changed the password almost daily. But, worst of all he kept calling me fair maiden and sometimes even tried to flirt with me, which was absolutely hilarious to everyone else, but mortifying to me.

* * *

A couple of months later Snape took a cover lesson in Defence, we were sitting in the usual classroom, the usual happened, Draco missed his chair, three times today, he made a paper moth that he sent at Harry. I hijacked it and sent it back at him, so he spent a good amount of time trying to swat his own creation. Snape strode in, the blinds lowered as he did so, "turn to page 394," everyone moved hesitantly, eyeing Snape with curiosity.

"Excuse me, sir," Harry said nervously, "but, where's Professor Lupin?"

"That's not really your concern, is it, Potter? Suffice it to say, your Professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time," he sneered more than usual. "Page 394," a screen lowered over the blackboard and an old fashioned projector showed a picture of a wood cutting of a Werewolf.

"Werewolves?" Ron asked.

"But, sir," Hermione said, causing Ron to jump in surprise, "we've only just begun learning about Red Caps and Hinkypunks. We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks."

"When did she come in? Did you see her come in?" Ron asked Harry.

"Now, Which of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a Werewolf?" Hermione and I raised our hands, he pointed at me.

"Animagus are wizards who can willing turn themselves into an animal whenever they want to, a Werewolf has no control over their transformations and do so once every lunar month when the moon is full, when they transform they will no longer be able to distinguish between friend and foe, meaning they will hunt either with equal pleasure." Malfoy, having finally caught moth, let out a howl.

"Quiet, Malfoy! Your homework is two rolls of parchment on the Werewolf by Monday morning, with particular emphasis placed on recognising it." A piece of paper hit Harry in the head, he leaned over and picked it up, "passing notes, Potter?" He snatched the paper away from him and sneers, "not exactly Picasso, are you? I hope you demonstrate more talent on the Quidditch pitch this weekend then you do as an artist. If not, I fear you'll perish, given the weather forecast, until that time, however, you'll forgive me if I don't let you off homework. Should you die, I assure you, you need not hand it in," lovely thought, he returned to giving the lesson.


	10. Chapter 10

It was storming for the next Quidditch match, making me suddenly very popular as I set up a rain repelling spell. I ended up sitting with Ron, Hermione, John, Luna, Ginny, Marc and even Drake, who was looking tired and nervous. It was weird that everyone was there, as some of them could have easily set up their own spell, we had learnt them the week before with Flitwick, although. Luna was wearing her giant lion hat again, and once again I was impressed, it was moving and roaring, seemingly with a mind of its own. Luna was a strange one, I was not sure what to make of her, she seemed to be out of it, but always knew what was going on, she appeared insane, yet, was perfectly sane when she wanted to be. I also could not read her mind, it was as if her mind had so much going on, everything was in such total chaos that I could not get a fix on anything long enough to register the thought. I got the feeling that this was intentional, as though her mind was purposefully confused and clouded to prevent people from reading her mind. The weather made it impossible to tell what was going on, occasionally Harry would appear out the mist, then it was a member of Hufflepuff whose name I had forgotten, then Cedric Diggory, then a bludger, then a quick flash of light that might have been the snitch. It was so misty and rainy that even the commentator gave up and just started singing sing along songs to keep everyone's spirits up. Harry shot out the mist, he was going straight up, reaching for the snitch, I cursed, just flying into my view were Dementors, dozens of them floating gracefully on the wind, like an angel of fear. They were out of the non-interference wards now, I grabbed for the water in the air and swiped at them with it, trying to make them leave, it did not work, the water froze and fell to the ground. I gather more raindrops and I swiped at them again, I missed, Harry stopped flying up, he levelled out, and then he totally stopped flying and instead fell to the ground. I reached out to use the air to stop him, but by the time I could react, he had fallen into the wards that were still up around the stadium. There was nothing I could do, only the teachers could, I glanced up at the teachers' box, Dumbledore stood, there was a flash and Harry was slowly safely lowered to the ground. I let out a breath I had forgotten I was holding. The teachers exited their box, except McGonagall, "the game has been cancelled due to the interference of the Dementors," her magically amplified voice echoed around the stadium, "you are to return to your Common Room until further notice."

"He'll be okay," Luna said in her usual airy voice, "he still has a part to play."

I didn't have time to think about her words as we rushed to the infirmary, battling our way through the crowd as we went, when we reached the infirmary Harry was lying on a hospital bed, "do you think he'll be okay?" Alice asked.

"He'll be fine, Luna said so, and Luna is never wrong," John said with total surety.

"Looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?" Ron asked.

"Peaky?" I asked, "what did you expect him to look like? He was attacked by a soul sucking monster and then fell fifty feet."

"Yeah, come on, Ron," Alice said distractedly, "we'll walk you off the Astronomy Tower and see how you come out looking."

"Probably a right sight better than he normally does," Harry said, everyone turned to see him lying there with his eyes open, Hermione hugged him.

"With thought you were gone, I was so worried," she slapped him, "don't ever do that again," she hugged him again, "how're you feeling?" My Gods, talk about mood swings.

"Well, you just hit me," Harry said rubbing the side of his head, "I feel dreadful. What happened?"

"You were attacked by Dementors and fell off your broom," I reported.

"No, I meant with the match," I facepalmed.

"It was cancelled," John said.

"Oh," was Harry's only response.

"No one blames you, Harry," Hermione said nervously, "the Dementors aren't meant to come on the grounds, Dumbledore was furious, after he saved you, he sent them straight off."

"There's something else you should know, Harry," Ron said, "your Nimbus, when it blew away, it sort of landed in the Whomping Willow, and well, it's now powder."

Lupin them walked in, "can I talk to Harry and Janet only please?" I asked, the others regarded each other and left, "Harry, I'm sorry about your broom, but there's no fixing it."

"Why do they affect me so, Professor? I mean, more than everyone else," Harry looked scared as he thought about them.

"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth, they feed on every good feeling, every happy memory, until a person is left with nothing but his worst experiences. You're not weak, Harry, the Dementors affect you most, because there are true horrors in your past, horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine. They attack you not because you are weak, but because you are strong, the horrors you've witnessed in your past make you the strong person I know you to be, and that's why they attack. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm scared, Professor," Harry muttered, looking down embarrassed.

"I'd consider you a fool if you weren't," Lupin said reassuringly.

"I need to learn how to fight them, you could teach me, Professor, you made that Dementor on the train go away," he looked up in hope.

"There was only one that night," Lupin said warningly.

"But you made it go away," Harry repeated.

"I don't pretend to be an expert, Harry, but yes, I can teach you, perhaps after the holiday. For now, though. I need to rest, I'm feeling, tired," Lupin did look haggard and I was beginning to notice a monthly cycle of him looking sick and haggard, then he would disappear for one or two days and return as fresh as a daisy. "The reason I asked you to stay Janet," Lupin said turning to me, "is that I want you to teach Harry occlumency, you are one of only dozen or so that I know of in the castle that can teach him, and the only one who would help. Harry in case you don't know occlumency is the shield to legilimency's sword, I take it you know of legilimency?" Harry nodded, "excellent, occlumency will not just keep legilimencers out, it will also keep Dementors at bay, as it shields your memories from their effect. Even occlumency can only go so far, if one were to ever physically touch you it would be able to take your soul out no matter how good you are as an occlumencer. Now then, I have marking to do," Lupin walked out the room.

"Harry, if you would like, we can start straight away," Harry nodded, I put my hand up to his temple and pulled his mind into mine.

* * *

I created a thought world (for lack of a better term) for us, a little bubble inside my mind, it was the field where I rode my horse back at home, but there was no-one else there. "Where? What just?" Harry asked as he spun around, "how did we?"

"Welcome to my mind Harry," I said, making an image of myself appear in front of him, "in here, I control everything. Now, you currently are disconnect from your body, don't worry, it's perfectly fine, I told Madame Pomfrey what is going on, she's sceptical, but is fine with it. Now, come, there's something I want to show you," I led Harry to the driveway in front of the house.

"Is this your house?" Harry asked looking at our house.

"Well, sort of, it is my memory of my home, but I think it is pretty accurate, anyway, come on," I led him to the library, disarming and rearming the traps as I went, "this what I wanted to show you I said pulling a book off the shelf and opened it, pulling us into a memory, it was probably a bit dramatic now that I think about it, but it seemed right at the time.

I showed him the memory of when Uncle Alistair taught me occlumency, we were sitting in the field behind the house on a hot summer's day in Texas, I was nine, "constant vigilance Janet." Uncle Alistair said, "that's the most important thing when you are an Auror, and that goes double for when your mind is at stake. A broken mind is worse than a broken body, I should know, mine's not exactly in great shape, body that is. Janet, let's start small, form your thoughts into a box and hide everything inside of it." Uncle Alistair put a hand to my temple and entered my mind, which was weird to remember, someone going into my mind in a memory. "Yes like that Janet," Uncle Alistair said happily, "now, make it into a room, yes, good, now add a corridor and then a maze. If they cannot find your thoughts they cannot mess around with them, now, that will do for today, I think you have got the basics, but keep practising."

We left the memory and reappeared in the library, "Harry, we're going to go to your head now, is that okay?" I asked.

"Of course, um, I have a question, what's going on outside, you know, around us?"

"Not much, I stopped you from seeing both inside and outside because it would make it too difficult to concentrate, I'll tell you if anything is happening." Harry nodded, "here we go, hold on to your proverbial hat," I concentrated, the library around us shimmered and flickered, we were instead floating in blackness, around us windows moved in a stream, each showing a different scene.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"Like I said, we are in your mind, now Harry, I want you to imagine a box and push your thoughts into that box," Harry nodded, a box faded into existence between us, and then faded out of existence, "focus Harry, focus." The box reappeared, and the memories faltered in their movement and started moving towards the box, but stopped and returned to where they were.

"I can't," Harry said, he faded slightly.

"Maybe another time then," I said returning us to our bodies.

"Wow," Harry said blinking, "that is disconcerting, how do you deal with that?"

I shrugged, "you get used to it."

"I don't think I can learn occlumency," Harry said.

"Not everyone can, but give it another try, tell me if you have any success," I smiled, "anyway, I'll leave you to rest."


	11. Chapter 11

A couple of weeks later was the next trip to Hogsmeade, everyone was bustling to get over the bridge, well, almost everyone. I was rushing around the castle looking for Harry, he was supposed to stay in the castle, that was McGonagall's orders, but he was nowhere to be seen. I could not go to a teacher until I found out if I was simply missing him or if he had been taken.

I was standing in the Great Hall when realisation hit me as to where he had gone, "oh, you idiot," I chastised myself, I reached out with my mind, and found Harry just on the edge of my range. He was heading towards Hogsmeade, but he was not crossing the bridge, he was under the lake, probably in a passageway."Dammit Harry," I ran in the direction I had sensed him, but was drawn up short, his mind was gone, he had passed beyond my range. All I could tell was that he had not been kidnapped, he had not been panicking, he was excited, 'oh that idiot, if he gets killed it's his fault,' I thought as I weighed up my options.

'Option number one, I tell a teacher, they go to Hogsmeade, may or may not find Harry, Harry gets in trouble. Two, I go to Hogsmeade, find Harry, drag him back to the castle, we might get caught and both get in trouble. Three, I wait for him to get back, if he does not come back, raise the alarm, Black could get away in that time. Chances are, he is wearing his cloak, Black will not be able to capture him if he keeps wearing it, so I think, my best option is the third one.'

Coming to that conclusion I returned to the room I shared and dug out Dad's last letter, it contained the report he submitted when Black was arrested. He was charged with assisting the enemy, seventy accounts of revealing magic to muggles and thirteen counts of murder. One of his victims, a Peter Pettigrew had been almost totally destroyed, leaving only a finger in his place. Black had been tried and convicted without due process, he had not been allowed to even make a plea or argue his defence, his sentence had been fourteen life sentences, which seemed a little ridiculous, seeing as he would only be able to serve one.

'Something about this doesn't add up, if Black was a Death Eater then Pettigrew's body would have survived, the killing curse does not vaporise people, and no spell vaporises someone except for one finger, especially not the magic that can be learnt by a wand user. Now, unless Pettigrew apparated and went into hiding, too nervous to come out of hiding since, which would appear to be justified as Black has escaped from Azkaban.' The only evidence had been witness accounts by muggles, they claimed bright lights from both wizards and that Black instigated the fight, as well as circumstantial evidence with him being the secret keeper. 'Black had been publicly planned to be Harry's parents' secret keeper, but that does not seem right, no-one publicises their secret keeper, it is a recipe for disaster, unless, who else did they trust?'

I ran to the library and found the old yearbooks, I skipped through until I found one with Harry's parents in, inside was a group picture, it had Sirius Black, Lupin, and three people I did not know, the little type underneath named them as James Potter, Lily Evans and Peter Pettigrew, they were happy and smiling together, looked like they were friends. 'Assuming that Black was not the secret keeper, but was instead a decoy, then who was? Well, if Black was not the secret keeper then the other secret keeper would have given away the information, and James would probably have told Black who the secret keeper was. Then when the secret keeper betrayed them, Black would probably have been the only person who knew who the secret keeper was, he would then go and confront them and in the heat of the moment, kill them. It was Pettigrew, Pettigrew was the traitor, if it had been Lupin or anyone else, Black would have gone after them, I see it now, if it was Pettigrew then everything fits into place, I need to see Lupin.' I returned the book to the shelf and left the library.

* * *

I found Lupin in his office, "Professor, can I talk to you please?" Lupin looked up and regarded me with tired eyes, he smiled.

"Of course Janet, what can I do for you?"

"It's about Black," Lupin froze and set down his pen.

"I see," he pressed his fingertips together, "I take it that the envelope you are holding is Black's arrest document and report."

I nodded, "the evidence does not add up, Black being publicly the secret keeper, Pettigrew being vaporised, and Black attacking him, rather than going into hiding. Then I started thinking, what if Black was not the secret keeper? So, working off that assumption, I went to the library and looked in the year books, I found pictures of you, Lily, James, Peter and Sirius. So, I wondered to myself, if Black had known who the secret keeper was and he found out the keeper betrayed them, what would he do? Well, would he confront and arrest the man who had just betrayed and indirectly killed his friend, no, he'd probably try to kill him, am I right?"

"It does fit, and I doubted that Black was the secret keeper as well," Lupin said pensively, "you don't normally tell anyone who the secret keeper is. But, even I was not told if that was what happened, I was a little busy at the time, and had not been to see them in a while, in fact, I was travelling to see them when they died."

"But that leaves the most important question. Where's Pettigrew?" I asked, "he did not die in that alley, any spell that would have destroyed his body like that would have left more mess than one finger, no, he went into hiding, we just need to find him. If we find him, we will be able to prove my theory, we will"

"To think I spent all these years thinking my best friend was a traitor and a murderer, I am such a fool," Lupin buried his head in his hands, sounding close to tears.

"Hey, it's okay," I said awkwardly, trying to comfort him, "the case looked really convincing superficially, it was only when I read it through the third time that I realised they had added one and one and gotten three," Lupin looked up and smiled weakly, he then shot up in his chair.

"I think Pettigrew is in the castle," he said suddenly looking up, a look of sudden understanding in his eyes, "that's why Black is here. But, how is he hiding? I should warn you, Peter was paranoid about protecting himself, especially his mind, he was a highly skilled occlumencer, I doubt you would find his mind, even as strong as a legilimencer as you are. As for his body, well, he's an unregistered animagus, as is Black, Peter turns into a rat and Black turns into a large black dog. So, be warned, Peter could be in any corner, under any ledge, in any drain, in any cupboard and if he knows you are looking for him, he'll kill you."

"Oh great, I have to find a rat in a castle when I cannot use magic to find his mind, this is not the needle in the hay stack, this is the needle in a hayloft, this might take a while." I sighed in defeat, there was no way I could find him, unless I found Black and hoped he had an idea, but that would require finding Black. "I'm glad Black is not a murderer on the loose, Harry went to Hogsmeade."

Lupin rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I told old McGonagall that he wouldn't stay, even with you watching him too much like his father that one, why didn't you stop him?"

"I am not allowed to leave the school site, and when I found out he was leaving he was already just on the edge of the range of my legilimency, I couldn't stun him, he was under that invisibility cloak of his, and even if I could, I was sure Harry would be fine, that was before I knew Black was a part-time pooch, I would have gone after him if I had known that. Besides, I'm going to make sure he doesn't do that again, he scared me half to Hades."

"Don't tell anyone about Black, not until we have Peter to prove it, act like you still think he is a murderer, just until we have proof," Lupin said, I nodded and walked out the office, leaving Lupin alone with his thoughts.

* * *

When Harry came back later I was waiting, as soon as I felt his mind come into range I sent a thought at him, 'Harry a word please.'

'Hi Janet,' came Harry's reply, his mind was rather nervous.

When Harry came inside the castle I grabbed his arm and pulled him into a side room, I was angry about him leaving the castle when he did not know if Black was out there ready to kill him. "What the Hades were you thinking?" I asked him levelly, Harry gulped. "Oh, I know, you weren't," I shouted, "you knew you were supposed to stay in the castle with me, I was told to protect you, Harry." I quietened down again, "you may have defeated Voldemort with whatever magic your Mum put on you, and you may have killed a weakened Basilisk, but you are not a duellist. Black is, Black fought in the war, Black killed Pettigrew, someone else who fought in the war, wizards who fought in the war tend to know how to duel, but you don't, the only lessons you've had are basic defence and Lockhart and he doesn't count, meanwhile, I'm an experienced duellist, I have duelled wizards, defeated a Minotaur, a Harpy, a Cyclops, Harry, I'm trying to protect you, please, just see that."

"You say I'm an inexperienced duellist, then train me, teach me how to do the magic you do, please Janet," he pleaded, I took a sharp intake of breath as I considered it.

"You wouldn't even be able to do most of what I can, my Greek magic comes from Mum, you have to have the spark, and you don't, and seeing as we've already determined you can't do occlumency I can't teach you legilimency. I don't think there's that much of what I use in duels that I can teach you, I could help your accuracy, but that's something you can do by yourself, it's mostly practice."

"Then help me practice," Harry said looking at me with a pathetic look on his face.

"Fine, these are the conditions, I will help you improve as a duellist, on Hogsmeade days we will find somewhere and I will teach you to duel, but you will not run off into Hogsmede again."

Harry hugged me tightly, before releasing me, blushing in embarrassment, "thanks Janet, this means a lot to me."


	12. Chapter 12

So on the next Hogsmeade day, true to his word, Harry was waiting for me outside the great hall, "come on," I handed him a coat and lead him to the forest, "I think we should be safe here. I told Hagrid what we doing and he begrudgingly approves."

Harry was shivering, "how are you not freezing?"

"Harry, I'm an elementalist, I can control fire remember, as part of that I can heat things up, like, myself for example," Harry nodded, "hang on," I set four large fireballs to hang in the corners of the clearing, it started to heat up.

"Thanks, but isn't that hard? You're maintaining four spells."

I shrugged, "thought I'd even out the fight a little, Harry, throw anything you like at me, I can block it, trust me."

" **Stupify** ," the stunner flew towards me, but went wide.

"I didn't have to do anything, Harry, always account for the wind."

" **Stupify** ," the spell flew at me, I cast a non-verbal shield, it would have hit my chest.

"There we go, good shot Harry."

"How did you do that?" Harry asked.

"Shield charm," I frowned, "have we not already done that one in class?" Harry shook his head, "oh, I must have been imagining things, turns out I do have something to teach you now."

I spent most of the rest of the day drilling Harry on combat spells, teaching him new ones, by the end Harry was starting to look a little bit like a competent duellist, "wow, I'm exhausted," Harry said as he finished the last drill, I started making more fireballs to show off, "you are really annoying when you do that," Harry said chuckling

"Come on, back to the castle," I said, I extinguished the fireballs heating the clearing.

"Oh, I'm awake now, it's freezing," Harry said shivering, his clothing had become very wet from melting snow and falling over, there had been a lot of falling over, I pulled the water from his clothing, mine were, of course, perfectly dry, seeing as I moved the snow out he way, rather than wade through it.

Bloody hell mate, you look exhausted, what happened?" Ron asked when we entered the Common Room, only Ron, Hermione, Alice and Neville were present.

"Janet taught me to duel," Harry said, he then yawned.

"Taught you to duel?" I asked raising an eyebrow, "Harry, that was the easy part," I smiled at him, Harry groaned, I went to my room to get changed for supper.

The next Hogsmeade day was the week before we were leaving for the winter holidays, we were unable to go into the forest due to the snow, so we had to find another room, we ended up commandeering a disused classroom in the dungeons, I set up some noise wards to no-one could hear us.

"Harry, normally, duels last until one duellist is unable to duel or throws in the towel, remember that, even if they are down your opponent is not out. Today I want to see how good you actually are in a duel, so you will be duelling me," Harry's eyes widened.

"Janet, isn't there usually a training montage before the pupil duels the master?" Harry did not sound very confident.

"I will make it fairer, I will only use wanded magic, and no legilimency. Besides, how do propose we do any more training when I don't know what you need to train on? We will duel until either you land a hit or you have to yield"

"Fine," he drew his wand, got into a duelling position, I did the same and then we bowed.

"You have the first move," I said.

" **Expelliarmus** ," Harry said shooting a spell at me.

" **Protego** , **rictusempra** ," Harry's spell was absorbed by my shield, and my own spell went back to him.

" **Protego** ," Harry said, flinching out of reflex when the spell hit the shield.

" **Aqua eructo** ," the torrent of water reflected off the shield, slicking the floor of the classroom, Harry's shield faded with the last of the water, " **ignis** ," the flame hit the floor, and the water steamed, obscuring vision, " **revelio homme** ," I saw Harry's form twinkle in the mist.

" **Expelliarmus** ," Harry cast where he thought I was, I made my way behind him, " **stupefy** ," the spell shot wildly into the mist, I pressed my wand to the back of his neck.

"I win," I said, Harry sighed, I removed my wand from his neck, "you panicked Harry, **ventus** ," wind blew through the room, and the mist dispersed. "There is always a simple solution to a problem, no matter how complex if your vision if obstructed by mist then ventus is the right spell, but most magicians forget about it for some reason, and don't be afraid to combine spells, one may compliment the other, especially spells like fire, and water, or water, and lightning. Duelling is not about who can throw the most spells, or the most powerful spells, it is about surprising your opponent. Yes, you can win a duel through brute force, but you have to be a lot stronger than your opponent to do it, otherwise, they will simply block you, and outmanoeuvre you."

"Okay, I have a question, is it possible to break another wizard's shield?"

"Yes, if you are strong enough then some spells can be used to break shields, usually it is the lightning spell with a maxima. It would become conjuro fulguris maxima, but some other work as well, it just depends on the relative power of the magicians."

"Maxima? What does that mean?" Harry asked, scratching the crown of his head.

"Maxima is a word put on the end of a spell to make it as powerful as possible, there are words like it, duo doubles the power, tria is more difficult to use, and triples the power of the spell, maxima maximises the spell but is very difficult to use, and if done badly can crack or even snap your wand, and finally there's minima, that halves the power of the spell, it's not really used much, medical magic uses it the most. Anyway, I think you're ready for another duel," Harry groaned, and got back into duelling position, we bowed.

" **Stupefy** ," Harry cast.

" **Protego** , **bombarda minima**."

" **Protego** ," the small explosion hit Harry's shield, but the shield held, " **expelliarmus**."

" **Protego** , **colloshoo** ," the spell, being technically a jinx, was not visible, and not blocked by Harry's shield.

"What did you?" Harry asked before he tried to lift his foot, "oh great," I circled behind him, " **finite incantatem** ," he turned to face me, " **stupefy**."

" **Protego** , **deprendo** ," the spell forced Harry to the ground, " **stupefy minima** ," Harry was stupefied, I had to wait for him to wake up.

We continued for a couple of hours before a very exhausted Harry, and a not very exhausted me returned to the Common Room.


	13. Chapter 13

The next week was the end of term, Harry, Ron, and Neville were staying in Hogwarts whilst Alice, John, and myself were heading back to America, and Hermione was heading for a family holiday in Switzerland. The mood on the train was excitable, Hermione was trying to explain skiing to me, whilst Alice, and John were playing wizard chess, and Luna, who had tagged along, was staring out the window, occasionally helping Alice at chess.

"So, you strap two planks of wood to your feet, and point them down the hill? That sounds dangerous," I said, my voice laced with confusion, "why would you willingly do something so dangerous?"

"Well," Hermione said, "it's not as dangerous as it used to be, there are helmets, and you are usually wearing lots of clothing which can cushion your fall. Besides, if you know what you're doing you don't to fall over," Hermione looked very excited about this sport which seemed to me like a very easy way to break limbs.

"I will never understand muggles," I muttered, just then Marc's head popped around the door.

"Hi everyone, Janet, I told my aunt, well, I suppose she's our aunt, about you, and she wants to meet you, she's going to be at the station."

I was surprised, I had never met my aunt, well, I had barely even known she existed, "oh," was my only answer, I was unsure what to say, so I changed the subject. "So, how was your first term at Hogwarts?"

Marc's face lit up, "oh, it has been great, I learnt so much, Professor Lupin is a great teacher, Snape doesn't like me, but I don't think he likes anyone. I have made friends, and the Slytherin hate me for some reason, and one of them keeps calling me names, but I don't care, because he's an idiot."

"Marc, if you ever need help with a bully, I'm always here, you are family after all," Marc frowned.

"No, I fight my own fights," I heard Alice laugh, everyone turned to face her, except Luna, who was staring at me.

"He is definitely related to you Janet," Alice said smiling, I smiled at my friend.

"I have to go," Marc said awkwardly, "I promised someone I'd sit next to them," he left the room.

"Oh," Luna said nodding.

"Oh what Luna?" I asked.

"That makes sense," Luna said, as if that would all make sense.

"What makes sense?" Asked Hermione, there was edge to her voice, Hermione, I had worked out, did not like Luna, probably due to Luna talking about nurgles, and nargles, and other invisible creatures that she had no evidence for, whilst Hermione followed the realm of logic, and evidence based reasoning.

"Demigods, you're demigods," I was surprised, no-one else, aside from Lupin, Snape and Hermione, had ever worked it out.

I swallowed nervously, "how did you work that out?" I asked, my voice shaky with nervousness.

"The nurgles told me, and they don't usually lie," Hermione did not look happy that Luna was talking about the invisible creatures again.

"Luna, what actually is a nurgle?" I asked.

"It is a little invisible creature that flies into the brain, and makes you all confused, they are avoiding you three, but some go near you."

"Is she talking about the Mist?" Alice asked quietly, John shrugged.

"I've learnt that when Luna says something, just go with it, she's usually right," not for the first time I got the idea that there was more to Luna than meets the eye.

"I won't tell anyone," Luna said to the window, "you are my friends, I don't want to lose my friends."

"It's okay," John said quietly, I drifted off to a dreamless sleep for the remainder of the journey.

* * *

"Janet, Janet, wake up," I was woken up by Alice, she was shaking my shoulder.

"I'm awake, where are we?" I asked as I blinked sleep from my eyes.

"Kings Cross, get up," I stood, and stretched, the others had already left the compartment, we grabbed our bags, and left the carriage, on the platform Dad was arguing with a woman who was standing next to Marc, probably our aunt. She was a tall woman, she was dressed in a flowery sundress. She looked a bit like Dad with black hair and large blue eyes, she was a few years younger than Dad, but her most striking feature was a large white scar running from under her right eye to the corner of her mouth, the scar had curved her lip up into a permanent smirk.

"You never sent any letters," she was shouting quite loudly, "you never responded to my letters, you did not turn up to my wedding, or Alex's, or our parents funerals, or any of Marc's birthdays, and you never sent word you had a daughter, you just dropped off the face of the Earth."

"Alicia, please," Dad pleaded, he sounded like he was in pain, "I never received letters from you, or invitations, the only letter I received from either of you was a letter from Alex saying I had a nephew. I was not given a birthday, I always sent a card at roughly the time of year I received the letter, but it was hard to guess."

"What are you talking about?" Alicia asked incredulously, "Alex always took my letters to be posted, and we never received birthday cards for Marc."

"Alex, he hated me, probably still does, and you use him as your link to the outside world."

"No, you are lying, Alex would never do that," Alicia said with utter conviction.

"Hello," I said breaking into the conversation before before something went wrong, "I'm Janet." Alicia spun on her heel to face me, she smiled at me, and we shook hands.

"Hello Janet, I'm your aunt, my name is Alicia."

"I know," I said, "Dad, and Marc have mentioned you."

"It's very good to meet you, I was not even aware that Thom had a daughter until Marc sent me a letter, any way it is a pleasure to meet," she held out her hand.

"The pleasure is mine," I said shaking her hand.

Chiron choose this moment to wheel over, "Thom, we must go now or we may miss our plane."

"Of course Chiron," Dad said, "terribly sorry to cut our reunion short Alicia, but I really must go, I'm helping chaperone."

"Well then, goodbye Thom, I probably will see you around," Alicia said, she turned, and walked off, Marc ran after her.

We left the station, and headed straight for the airport, as usual we sent our luggage through the floo network for us to collect on the other side.


	14. Chapter 14

When we arrived in New York it was snowing, Dad had been silent and sad since his reunion with his sister, often lowering his eyes and drawing into himself whenever the bus journey to camp with him was totally silent bar the engine, everyone on the bus noticed his mood, and was totally silent. When we reached Camp, Dad left without a word, appariting away without a word.

Almost immediately Chiron summoned Alice, and myself into his office, "earlier today I received an Iris message from Grover, he's found two demigods, and they are very powerful, however, this does mean that there are more than likely monsters already in the school. I would like you two to go to the Westover School in Bar Harbour, it is up to you five to go to this school, and secure the safety of these two demigods, and bring them back to Camp, he has already contacted Percy, so I am sure he will be there as well."

"Right then," I said, "when do we go get them?"

"Today," Chiron said, causing some surprised looks, "the school is having its annual dance this evening, and Grover believes that will be enough of a distraction to get them out."

"Okay then, let's go," Percy said smiling, probably happy to see Grover again.

"You have three hours to prepare until the dance starts, good luck, and may the Gods be with you."

Alice, and I went off to Hermes' cabin, "what do we need to take?" Alice asked.

"Well, I'd guess easily disguisable weapon, check, our wands, check, that mood ring I gave you." Alice reached into her bunk, and pulled out a bag containing a mood ring, she put it on, it did not light up, meaning there were no monsters nearby, "check. I guess changing into more suitable clothing would be a good idea." I said looking down at my purple shirt, a dark blue shorter than knee-length skirt, and brown shoes, Alice was wearing her usual bright colours, her shirt was a very luminous green, and her trousers were white, covered in stripes of bright colours.

"Nah," Alice said dismissively, "I think our clothing will be fine, it's not a ball, it's a school dance, we look about normal."

"I think you might want to rethink your clothing colours, they are not exactly the right colours for sneaking about at night, anyway, I'm going to get a shower," I grabbed a towel, and clothes, and headed for the shower block.

Ten minutes later I returned to find Alice in some more muted colours, a red top and green trousers, "well then," Alice said, I smiled, and turned to my portkey, a piece of paper on the floor.

" **Porto** ," I said, creating the portkey, "ready?" Alice nodded, "on one, three, two, one," we grabbed the piece of paper, the portkey pulled us all the way to Bar Harbour, and dumped us in the middle of a snowstorm.

We were at the foot of a black stone castle which balancing precariously on the edge of a cliff, it looked like the home of an evil knight, with all its tall walls and ghostly turret, light spilling out the narrow arrow slits. I reached out with legilimency and found no-one watching. "We're alone," I said.

"And I'm freezing," Alice said with chattering teeth, "how are you not freezing?"

"Elemental, remember, here," I created a small fireball for her to heat herself from, then I cleared the snow around us, then I set up a ward to deflect the wind and snow around us, and finally I pulled the water out of Alice's clothing, "nice and warm."

"Thanks Janet, you're the best," she said grinning at me.

"I have my moments," I said with a shrug.

We made our way to the giant wooden double doors when we heard a car drive up, we froze as the car parked, I reached out with legilimency, it was Percy, Thalia and Annabeth, "friendlies." I said to Alice who was drawing her wand, I handed her a bracelet, "in case you need a sword, remember to hold it in your left hand or it will be a shield." We continued up the path, I wanted to get inside, the sustained magic was going to draw attention, "come on, I want to find Grover," I pulled Alice to the door.

"Do we knock on the door?" Alice asked, I reached out and pushed the door with magic, "or magic the door." We stepped inside, allowing me to lower the spells I was using to shield us, I shut the door.

"Right then, that car has Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia in, we can wait here for them, or we go find Grover before the monster gets tipped off that we're here," I heard footsteps down the corridor, I turned to see a man and a woman walking down the corridor, he was a tall man, but then again everyone is tall to me, she was short, she was a bit shorter than Alice, they walked like they were officers on parade, he was clean shaven with a day's worth of stubble, she had a very distracting wispy moustache. They both had grey buzzcuts, and black military uniforms with red trim, he was heterochromatic, he had one green eye, and one brown eye, she had brown eyes. He looked weirdly familiar, like I had seen him before someone.

"What are you doing here?" The lady asked.

I snapped my fingers, bending the Mist to my will, "you know us, we are students here, I am Janet, and this is Alice." The man narrowed his eyes, 'dammit, he's clear sighted.'

"Do you know these two Mrs Gottschalk?" He asked in a French accent. 'Mrs Got Chalk, is that a joke?'

She hummed as she woke from the trance, "oh, of course Dr Thorn, now I remember, yes. They're in Mrs Fearnow's class," her eyes narrowed as she realised we were infringing on a rule, "you're not meant to be here, return to the dance."

"Of course Mrs Gottschalk," I said as I grabbed Alice's hand and dragged her to the dance, "let's go find Grover," I said under my breath, I felt a prickling between my shoulder blades, I turned, Dr Thorn was glaring at me, I smiled at him, he turned and returned to his Marching.

The dance was exactly how I imagined it, all the boys were talking and mucking about with the decorations on one side, all the girls were giggling on the other. In between the two groups a few couples were dancing, there were also groups of girls wondering about giving unfortunate guys makeovers. I never understood the need some girls had for dressing up, but most of the girls were in spaghetti tops that looked uncomfortable, jeans so tight they must have been cutting off blood supply to the feet and shoes that looked more like the aftermath of an accident in a torture device factory than they did shoes. Grover was standing with his back to us, I snuck up behind him, "don't you think you'd look great in ribbons?" He jumped and turned to face us.

"Oh, thank goodness," he said nervously as he looked around the room, trying to find any trace of a monster, "I take it Chiron sent you."

"Naturally, so which ones are the demigods?" Grover pointed at two siblings sitting in the bleachers.

"Nico and Bianca di Angelo, siblings, arrived this year, keep to themselves, dead mum, dead or absent dad, so it could be either. Be careful, I think I smelt a trace of monster earlier, so, I called for backup from Chiron."

I nodded, "by the way, Percy, Annabeth and Thalia arrived a little while ago, I reckon they probably encountered hall patrol out there by now," Grover squeaked and ran out as quickly as he could on crutches.

"Well, let's go meet our latest recruits," Alice said as we made our way up the bleachers. The siblings both had black silky hair and olive skin, they both had a tendency towards expressive hand gestures. He was shuffling cards whilst she was telling him off, or complaining, she was shouting at him, that is all I could tell. They were both wearing black shirts with writing on, which I could not read, both had jeans on, Bianca was wearing a floppy green cap.


	15. Chapter 15

We walked up to Bianca, "hello, Bianca isn't it, I don't think we've met, my name is Janet," I held out my hand, Bianca stared at it like it was a snake.

"What do you want?" Nico asked, he had a faint Italian accent.

"Well, I'd like to get to know you two," Bianca reluctantly shook my hand, "this is Alice by the way," I said gesturing to Alice who waved at them with a smile.

"Why are you talking to us?" Bianca asked, she had the same Italian accent, but it was much stronger than her brother's.

I cocked my head slightly, "what do you mean?"

"Well, you're pretty," Bianca said awkwardly, "you could be talking with anyone down there, no-one would push you away, but, with us, they just make jokes about our accents."

"Well, that's not the right way to look at things, just because I look a certain way means I'm egocentric does it? I could go down there and talk to them, but I'd have no clue what they were talking about, I can't do gossip, or make-up, or whatever else they're talking about. I always find the people who they label as outcasts are more interesting than they are, outcasts are different, you don't just follow the crowd, you think for yourself, and that makes you interesting." I smiled at them, Bianca smiled, Nico frowned, I looked down at the dance. Percy and Annabeth were standing by the door, Thalia was dancing with Grover, which was rather comical as Grover kept tripping over her feet, or his own feet or nothing at all.

"Thanks," Bianca said, "it's so hard to talk to those people, most can't even find Italy on a map," I laughed.

"So, which part of Italy are you from?"

"Genoa, which is..."

"In the Liguria region, on the Mediterranean coast near the French border," I interrupted, Bianca was looking at me open mouthed in surprised, "I might have read a few history books," Alice laughed next to me.

"Yeah, only a few," Alice said, I blushed.

"Hey, wanna see a card trick?" I asked, Nico shrugged, "look at the top card of your mythomagic deck," he picked the card up and looked at it, he replaced it on the pile. I used the air and pulled it to me, it was Hades, "is this your card?"

They both stared at me bug eyed, "wha?" Bianca started, "how did you? Did you just? I don't believe it."

I saw Dr Thorn enter the disco, he glared directly at me, I stiffened, he sneered and turned away, "you don't really go to our school do you?" Nico asked.

I bit my lip, "guilty as charged, I'm a friend of Grover's, you know, the boy on crutches."

"So, why are you at our school dance, it's not exactly an interesting place to be?" Bianca asked. Dr Thorn was glaring at me again, Bianca noticed, but Thorn did not stop, "and why is the vice principal glaring at you like that?"

"I have no idea, but I think he knows me, which is weird, because I can't remember where I met him before, but I think I do know him." I was now furiously trying to think of every French person I had ever met, all zero of them, 'where have I met him before?'

Dr Thorn walked over, "you three," he pointed at the di Angelos and myself, "are to come with me, Monsieur Mortimer wishes to see you." I gulped.

That sent alarm bells ringing, 'I cannot refuse, he will know something is up, also, how did this Monsieur Mortimer know who I am? Oh dammit, one of them must be the monster Grover sensed.' I turned to Alice, 'ring,' I thought at her, Alice looked down at her ring, it was bright red, Dr Thorn was a monster, 'I'll alert you when he makes a move, get the others,' Alice nodded.

With all my senses screaming out at me I followed Thorn, then it struck me who he was, it was the Manticore, I had hoped he would stay down a little longer. We entered the entrance hall, "now, Miss 'arker."

"There's an H."

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"There's an H at the beginning of my name. It's Harker," I was playing for time, something was blocking my legilimency, I had to hope Percy did something stupid.

"That's what I said," Thorn moaned, then I realised who he was, it was the Manticore, "Miss 'arker," I was going to speak but he cut me off, "it's time to end this pitiful charade, you will die here."

"Oh, lovely," I said, "didn't I already vaporise you like two years ago, couldn't you have left for a little longer, well, at least you're not doing Moldy's bidding this time, you are following an even more delusional lunatic."

Thorn's face was red with fury, "I will kill you."

"Wow, if I had a pound for every time someone said that to me," I turned to the wide eyed di Angelos, "stay behind me," they nodded.

"Bah," Thorn's tail came into view, Bianca yelped, a spike shot from the tail straight at me, I grabbed it with the air.

"Same tactic as last time? Real creative Thorn," I threw the spike back, he blocked it with his tail.

"Ah, but I have been creative, I had my hall monitors grab your friend back in the dance, she won't dare make a scene, you may have noticed I have prevented you from calling for help, a little help from my friend Monsieur Mortimer, the Death Eater."

"Oh boy, the lunatic in the armoured clothing is back, great, Dad is going to be so happy," Thorn shot another spike, once again, I grabbed the spike and sent it back, "maybe third time's the charm Thorn," I threw a fireball at him, he swiped it with his tail, "note to self, Manticores are fireproof, who knew? Wait, I think I knew in first year" Thorn smiled at me.

"I have won, your little friends have been a bit quiet, haven't they?" I glanced behind me, Nico and Bianca were no longer there.

"Au revoir," he turned and ran away, I could take Thorn, but I'd need help with his accomplices.


	16. Chapter 16

I ran back along the corridor, bumping into the others, "what happened? Where are the di Angelos?" Thalia asked.

"Thorn is the Manticore, we fought, he captured the di Angelos from behind my back, he said he'd captured Alice, I came back to get you."

"Where are they?" Grover asked.

"I don't know, outside maybe, my legilimency isn't working, he's got a magician to work with him, they've warded the school against legilimency."

"Okay, we split up," Annabeth said as she took charge, "Grover, how many entrances to the school?"

"Three, I checked, front, back and service on the side facing away from the cliff."

"We go outside and separate, Percy, and I will wait by the main entrance, Thalia, and Alice take the service entrance, Janet, and Grover, you take the back, if you come across him make as much noise as possible, ready?" We nodded, and walked along the corridor, and out the entrance door, we saw Thorn flanked by three dwarves in battle armour with a tall woman in robes with purple hair standing behind him, totally not an obvious witch. The di Angelos were tied up by a tree, the courtyard had been cleared of snow, most likely by magic.

"You are too late, I shall leave here soon, taking the di Angelos with me, and there is nothing you can do about it," cue evil French accented laugh.

"Oh shut it baguette," Percy shouted in probably the weirdest insult I had heard given to a monster.

"Baguette?" Thorn screamed, Percy's strange insult hit a nerve it seemed, "I am Quebecois, you ignorant American, destroy them," he screeched, his voice cracking a little.

Alice laughed, "voice crack, what are you, eleven? Is this monster puberty?" She stopped and looked disgusted, "if so, ew," Thorn shot spikes at her, but I knocked them out the air.

"Again with the spikes," I said, "it never works, as they say, insanity is doing the same thing over, and over again, and expecting different results." The dwarves lumbered into action, they waddled over with their swords drawn, and shields ready. The lady with purple hair surprisingly enough turned out to be a witch (called it), she threw lightning at me, I stepped out the way.

"Now, I will destroy you," she shouted at me, she had an Eastern European or Russian accent, probably, I am not good with accents.

"Great, I already had this talk with Thorn," I threw a fireball at her, she deflected it with her hand, it went back and forth, she would throw things, I would dodge or block them and then would return fire. "This really isn't working," I said, " **reducto**."

The explosion hit her head on and knocked her off her feet, but aside from being a little dirty she was unaffected, "oh great, **reducto maxima** ," the explosion knocked everyone in the courtyard off their feet, except for me. I looked around me, Alice had been cushioned by a bush, Grover was hiding in the entranceway, the dwarves had vanished, but their armour was not here either, meaning they either got thrown a long way (unlikely) or bid a hasty retreat. Thalia and Percy were lying on the edge of the large crater I made, and the di Angelos were still under a tree. "Well that worked," I said, the witch appeared to have been vaporised, that was, until a hand appeared over the edge of the crater, "oh come on, what are you, a terminator?" The witch pulled herself out the crater, she was scraped, cut, and bruised, but otherwise looked fine.

"You hurt me, no-one ever hurts me," she shrieked as she threw more lightening.

"Oh come off it," I said, " **expelliarmus** ," she flew backwards and hit into a tree, and lay still, I turned to get the de Angelos, "now, problem solved."

"Look out," Bianca shouted, I turned and raised a shield just in time for it to be hit by lightning.

"Yep, definitely a terminator," the witch was now standing and grinning maniacally.

"Die, die, die, die, die," she was shouting, "you cannot hope to defeat me you pathetic little girl." She looked so rabid I expecting her to start foaming at the mouth.

"Hurtful, but seriously, you need a help, let's go find you a shrink, I'm sure there's a nice one somewhere, maybe not at a boarding school though."

She relented on her attack, we were both breathing heavily, "just stop talking," she shouted.

"Shesh," I pulled up the ground underneath her feet, she went flying through the air and off the cliff, "please tell me she's gone now."

"Nobody move," said a French accented voice, further along the cliff Thorn was holding Annabeth with her own dagger pressed against her throat. "One more step and this one dies," I heard a whirring sound as a fully armed military grade helicopter rose over the cliff, it started playing the Flight of the Valkyries over a loudspeaker as it rose over the cliff edge.

"What the hell? How did that get there?" Alice shouted while she was trying to untangle herself from the bush she landed in when the courtyard exploded, now we were royally screwed. I could not hope to deal with the helicopter's missiles, a magician can stop bullets with a shield if given enough warning, not laser guided missiles meant for tanks. Then things got weird.

We all heard it, eerie sounds coming from the woods, a hunting horn blowing in the wind, the howl of wolves, the crack of a twig, then a white silver arrow appeared in Thorn's shoulder, he released Annabeth who appeared entranced by the sounds but was able to stagger away, Thorn had a look of utter fear and hatred on his face. "Curse you! Tala, to me," he shot his spikes into the woods, each was intercepted by a silver arrow. The purple hair witch pulled herself over the edge of the cliff, she was soaked to the skin, but annoyingly unharmed, in fact she had healed all the cuts and bruises from the explosion earlier. She stood up on the grass next to Thorn, the newly identified Tala pulled the arrow from Thorn's shoulder, causing him to howl in pain, the wound healed instantly. The archers appeared from the woods, fifteen in total, ranging from ten to somewhere around seventeen, all dressed in muggle snow jackets, and jeans, all armed with bows, and knives. All the Hunters were staring at Thorn with the determination that would have fit a wolf on the prowl.

"The Hunters of Artemis," Thalia said with contempt, "oh great."

One of the older archers stepped forward, she was breathtakingly beautiful, tall and graceful, with long dark brown hair and copper coloured skin, she had a silver circlet braided into her hair, probably a Marc of rank, "permission to kill, my lady?"

Thorn actually threw a tantrum like a little child, stamping his feet and pumping his arms, "this is no fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws!"

"Thorn is right," Tala said in that accent that I could not place.

"Not so," another girl said stepping forward, she was the same age as myself, she was even more beautiful than the older girl, she was glaring at the monster with a stern and determined expression. She oozed self confidence in a way that made me understand, she was in charge, which made her Lady Artemis, "the hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature are a wild beast," yep, definitely Artemis, she turned to the taller girl, "Zoë, permission granted."

Thorn growled, "if I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead," he lunged at Thalia, who was the nearest demigod.

"Get back, Halfblood, get out the line of fire," the Hunter Zoë shouted, Annabeth, in a move equal parts foolhardy and brave jumped onto Thorn's back. Thorn spun around howling, trying to pull Annabeth off his back or stab her with his tail, he was blindly flailing inches from the cliff. "Fire," Zoë ordered, Percy shouted something, but the arrows flew, the first hit his neck, the second, his chest, he was now kneeling on the edge of the cliff, Annabeth trying to pull her knife from his back.

"This is not the end Huntress! You shall pay!" He shouted, and before anyone could react he grabbed Tala, and jumped off the cliff. Annabeth still on his back.

"Annabeth," Percy shouted, he rushed for the cliff edge. I stopped paying attention, I heard a pattering sound, like rain on a sheet of metal as the helicopter opened fire on the Huntresses. I did not care. I was crying. I had shielded myself and had collapsed crying. I felt the blood boil in my vein. I had just watched as my second oldest friend went over a cliff. I watched her fight. I had not helped. I watched. I did nothing, I was furious at myself, at Thorn, at Luke who must have ordered him, I was furious, and I had a target to take it out on. Suddenly my blood stopped boiling furiously. I had passed the point of anger. I was at the point of cold fury. No more tears came. I stood and turned to the aircraft. It was shooting at Artemis who was staring at me, her head tilted in curiosity, not one bullet hit her. I reached out with my hands and my magic responded, great streams of fire, and blades of wind cut through the aircraft, removing weapons. Disassembling it violently. The armour plating coming apart like putty before my fury. I watched the pilots fall. I caught them with the wind, trying to decide what to do. 'They are more than likely muggle mercenaries, they probably have families, they were just trying to provide. Knock them out and leave them for the police,' a rational part of my mind suggested. 'So what?' Replied an angry thought, 'they helped kill Annabeth, we should return the favour.' I faltered, 'Annabeth might not be dead, that Tala is a witch of sorts, she would have apparated them out of there, besides, where is the justice in an eye for an eye? I if follow that through then we all end up blind.' I set them down gently on the ground, and knocked them out. My anger left me and suddenly the strain of the magic caught up with me, I felt my head become light, lights flashed behind my eyes, and I collapsed (I am starting to spot a pattern of me ending up unconscious).


	17. Chapter 17

I woke up in a tent, which was a first, I was lying on a camp bed, my head hurt, I put my hand to it, there was a bandage, I looked around, I was alone, 'weird, why did they leave me? Did they not think I would be up?' I tried to do legilimency, but was blocked by the pain in my head. 'Great, no legilimency for me,' I thought over what happened with the helicopter, and recoiled in horror from my own memory, 'I was willing to kill them, and why did I refer to myself as we? Is that something I need to be worried about, or is it just me arguing internally? I'll chalk it up to exhaustion, probably a Freudian slip, can I do that in my own head?' The tent flap rustled and a cheerful looking girl walked in, she was about my age, average height, lithe build, kind of pretty, with big green eyes and silky black hair, she exuded a soft sort of glow that was soft enough to look like a trick of the lighht. 'Why do I keep thinking about how pretty each girl I meet is?' I wondered as she bustled about, picking up, things and moving them around.

"Good morning," I said, the girl jump, and turned to face me.

"Youshouldn'tevenbeconsciousyet,mynameisCassiebytheway,thisisincredibleyourfriendswillbemeetingLadyArtemissoon,mustbethemagic,wowcanIrunsometests,you'rereallyprettybytheway,likewow,I'veneverhadamagicpatientbefore,you'remyfirst,notlikethatfirstbutstillmyfirstmagicpatient." I blinked, she had said all that in about two seconds on one breath, all I got out of that was that her name was Cassie.

"Breathe," I said, "and say that again, but slowly."

"Um," Cassie said tapping a finger to her chin, "I forgot," I sighed, she jumped and smiled broadly, "now I remember. You're my first ever magic patient, you shouldn't be awake yet, my name is Cassie, you are really pretty," I blushed, causing Cassie to giggle, "and your friends are meeting Lady Artemis like now."

I bolted upright, 'my friends are meeting Lady Artemis, without Annabeth that leaves Percy, who is probably in bad mood and not good with Gods when he's in a good mood. Thalia, who's idea of diplomacy is hit it, if it still moves hit again. The di Angelos, and Grover, who are probably scared witless, the only one who may be safe to leave in the same room as a God is Alice, but she must be scared and tired as well. I must stop them from screwing up.' I got out of the bed, ignoring Cassie's complaints, I quickly checked I was dressed and presentable before leaving the tent, I walked towards the largest tent in the little cluster that the Huntresses had erected.

At the entrance I could hear shouting, Percy was arguing with the tall girl, 'what's her name, Zoë? Or was that part of the exhaustion as well? No, I think it was Zoë.'

"What did I miss?" I asked, the two of them stopped and turned to me, "good to see you're making friends Percy," I said smiling weakly, I felt something knock me off my feet, I was about to react when I realised it was Alice, and she was crying.

"I was so scared, don't you ever collapse on me like that again, I know it was exhaustion, but still, never do that again," I looked around, Zoë was staring down Percy in the middle of the room, Thalia was standing near them, rubbing her bracelet in thought. Grover was sitting on a sofa and blushing whilst staring at his fake feet, and the di Angelo's were looking rather scared as they sat on chairs in the corner.

"I just needed a nap," I said smiling shakily at Alice

"Janet, how can you make jokes when Annabeth fell off a cliff and this idiot won't let me search for her?" Percy asked as he glared bitterly at Zoë.

"Your friend is beyond my help or yours Percy Jackson," Artemis said as she stepped inside the tent, she was as beautiful as I remembered, with dark eyes, auburn hair, and olive coloured skin that was similar to the di Angelo's.

"Who do you think you are?" Percy shouted, Zoë bristled and stepped forward

"Lady Artemis, please forgive him," I tried diplomatically, "he does not know what he says."

Percy looked aghast, even in his angry and tired state he did not want to anger a Goddess, "I'm sorry Lady Artemis, I expected you to look, um," Percy stared blankly at the ceiling.

Artemis chuckled, I breathed a sigh of relief, "it's okay Percy, I get that a lot."

"Whoa, hold up, time out," Bianca shouted, everyone turned to her, she pointed at us, doing a dot to dot in the air, "who are you people?"

"Bianca, the question is who are you?" I said, trying to think of a way to explain it to them, "or rather, who are your parents?"

"Our parents are dead," Bianca said. She said it in an expressionless way that made me realise it had happened a long time ago and she had said it so many times it had lost all meaning to her, it was just like she was reciting lines in a play now. "We're orphans, there's a bank trust that pays for our school, but," she stopped. We all had a look on our faces that told her we did not believe her, except Percy, and Zoë who were glaring at each other, again, and her brother, who was staring at Artemis with a look of utter amazement on his face. "What?" She asked angrily, "I'm telling the truth."

"If you two don't stop, I will turn you both into squirrels," I shouted at Percy and Zoë.

"Can she really do that?" Zoë asked, Percy shrugged in reply.

"You're a Halfblood," Thalia said with all the tack of an elephant in clogs in a china shop, "one of your parents is an Olympian."

"Olympian, like an athlete?" Bianca asked, scrunching her brow in confusion.

"No, a God," Thalia said, "or a Goddess," she quickly added when Artemis cleared a throat.

"Cool," Nico said lost in wonderland.

"No!" Bianca shrieked in bewilderment, "not cool."

"It is pretty cool," Alice muttered, I had almost forgotten she was standing next to me, at some point she had slipped her hand into mine.

"Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage?" Nico asked excitedly as he danced around the tent excitedly, cue eight facepalms, "does he really get extra movement points for - ?"

"Nico, shut up," Bianca shouted, cutting him off, "this is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no Gods!" She was going hysteric, I choose this moment to start summon several fireballs to try , "what the hell?" Bianca asked.

"If magic is real, why not Gods?" I asked, I extinguished the fireballs, "look I know this is hard to understand, but the Gods are real, they are still around, and they are still having children with mortals, well most of them are, there are some exceptions." I looked at Artemis, "being the child of a God is no picnic, it is dangerous, very dangerous, demigods tend to die young," I thought of Babbling and added, "mostly."

"Dangerous," a bewildered Bianca said like she was in a trance, "like the girl who fell?" I felt the tears return to the corner of my eye, Alice buried her head in my shoulder, which must have looked strange, she was so much taller than me after all, she had to bend quite a way to reach my shoulder.

"Do not despair for Annabeth," Artemis said, "she is a brave maiden, if she can be found, I will find her."

"Then why won't you let us go and look for her?" Percy asked.

"She is gone, can't you sense it, son of Poseidon? Surely you two can?" Artemis asked looking at Alice and I.

I shook my head, which made me wince, "all I can sense at the moment is my headache."

Alice closed her eyes, "yes, I can feel it, Titan magic, like in the forest, but very weak, the water is probably washing it away."

"Exactly, some magic is at work, I do not know exactly how or why, but your friend has been taken."

"Ooh," Nico said raising his hand.

"Nico, we're not in school," Thalia snorted.

"Well, excuse me princess,"Nico frowned, planting his hand on his hips, "I was just being polite," he turned back to Artemis. "What happened to Dr Thorn? That was awesome how you shot him with arrows, is he dead?"

"Thorny is a Manticore, and one I've killed before" I said, Bianca and Nico looked very confused so I elaborated. "He does not truly die, he simply returns to the pits of Tartarus when he is killed, but no, he's not dead, he's injured. Like all monsters, we have to kill him, or he'll kill us."

Bianca shivered, "that explains, Nico, you remember, those cloaked guys in black who tried to attacked us in DC?" That got my attention, I stored that away for future conversations.

"And that bus driver, the one with ram's horns, I told you that was real," Nico said triumphantly.

"That's why Grover has been watching you," Percy said, "to keep you safe, if you turned out to be demigods."

"Grover?" Bianca asked in confusion, "you're a demigod?"

"Well, a satyr actually," Grover said sheepishly, (or should that be goatishly?) he kicked off his fake feet, Bianca went very pale and started hyperventilating.

"Grover, put your shoes back on, you're freaking her out," Thalia said.

"Hey, my hooves are clean," Grover grumbled, stubbornly refusing to cover his hooves.

"Bianca," Percy said, drawing the conversation away from Grover's hooves, "we want to help you. You and Nico need training to survive, Dr Thorn won't the last monster you meet, or even the most powerful. You need to come to camp."

"Camp?" Bianca asked.

"Camp Halfblood," Percy said, "it's like a camp where demigods learn to survive and stuff, you can join us, stay year round if you like."

"Sweet," Nico said gleefully, his eyes wide with excitement "let's go."

"Wait," Bianca shook her head, "I don't want to."

"There is another option," Zoë said.

"No, there isn't," Percy said, cue glaring, I sighed and turned the two of them into squirrels.

"I warned you," I said, Bianca looked close to fainting.

"Awesome," Nico said excitedly, "ooh, I want to be a lion."

"Magic is not a toy Nico," I said, Nico sighed dramatically.

Artemis snapped her fingers, turning the squirrels back into people, "Bianca come with me, I would like to speak with you," she lead Zoë and Bianca out the flap at the back.

"How is it?" Alice asked, "that after what we have both been through, I look like I've been dragged through a hedge, and you look like you are about to leave the house?" Alice had seen better days, she was covered in mud and had a twig in her hair, I absent mindedly removed the twig.

"I guess I'm just better at dealing with situations like this," I said smiling weakly, "well, I did have a nap as well," Alice laughed.

Nico was talking excitedly to Percy, who was ignoring him, and Thalia, who was also ignoring him, Grover had fallen asleep, getting the hint Nico abandoned his conversations and walked over to us, Alice walked over to the others, she sat next to Grover on the ground.

"How did you do that thing with the helicopter?" Nico asked.

"Magic," I said.

"But, it was a helicopter, it had armour plating and machine guns." I sighed, 'I'm going to have explain things to him aren't I?'

"I am, amongst other things, an elementalist, I can control the alchemical elements of fire, earth, water and wind, that's how I tore apart the helicopter, blades of fire and winds, I shouldn't have done it, I used too much magic."

"What about the big explosion during the fight?"

"That was wanded magic, except I wasn't using a wand to do it, I rarely use my wand, only for the sakes of appearances around other magicians, otherwise, uncomfortable questions might get asked, I sometimes use it for more powerful spells."

"Why was that purple haired witch so tough?"

"The questions just don't end with you do they?" Nico shook his head, "I have no clue, I think she might not have been human, maybe a minor titan, a demon, or just a witch who went too far into the dark arts. Anyway, Nico tell me about these cloaked men in DC that you mentioned."

"Well, we were walking down a road, can't remember which one, and we were jumped by three guys, but they weren't after money, they were dressed in weird black hooded robes, and metal masks. One had a cane, they said we were something like forfeit to some dark lord, it made no sense. They then pointed guns at us, but they might have been wands, they flickered a bit, then we were saved by these other two guys. One was in a linen suit, his face was covered with a blue hood with a green clock face on it, the other was a tall man in a suit with red hair and white streaks in his sideburns, he had a cane, but he wasn't using it to walk with. I don't remember his name, but when they saw them, the men in black ran off, the two of them then turned, and walked off without saying anything."

"Sounds like Clock and Blood, they're a pair of Aurors, but Clock operates in New York, sort of, he randomly vanished for months on end, he's also slightly insane, and Blood lives in Europe last I heard. You were lucky, you were jumped by Death Eaters, magic religious fanatics, they would love to get their hands on demigod blood, it can be used in all sorts of potions."

Nico shivered, "delightful," Percy had started arguing with Thalia in the background, "so, were you just being nice to us in the hall so you could protect us?"

"No," I said smiling at him, "you and your sister are my kind of people, you aren't trying to be someone you're not. You don't follow the crowd, you don't pretend to enjoy something, you don't act bigger and tougher than you are, you're just you," Nico smiled, "but please don't try to explain Mythomagic to me," I said, Nico frowned.

At this point the tent went awkwardly silent for ten minutes before Nico finally managed to talk to Percy, then they engaged in an awkward conversation where Nico tried to explain to Percy how Mythomagic worked. Whilst Percy was trying to understand it, he also had to answer really strange personal questions about Annabeth and other people, and explain the world of Halfbloods to him. This kept me moderately entertained until Zoë chose to make a reappearance, "Lady Artemis would speak with thee," she pointed rather dramatically at Percy and myself.

"Zoë, the word is you, thee has not been used outside of bad fantasy and fantasy games since around about the fifteen hundreds," I said, Zoë narrowed her eyes at me, but did not say anything as she led us out the tent


	18. Chapter 18

Zoë led us through the tents, where we saw wolves prowling the perimeter and falcons roosting on the tent roofs. The tent she led us to was the same size as the other tents, nothing marked it as out of the ordinary, there were no guards, no markings, not even a sign. Zoë pushed aside the flap and led us in, inside was a Greenpeace nightmare, or a taxidermist dream. The floor was covered in rugs and pillows, in the centre of the room was a brazier that burnt without fuel, the walls were somehow lined with animal heads, horns, and pelts as well as bows and other hunting paraphernalia. At the end of the tent Artemis sat on a pillow with a silver deer resting its head on her lap, seemingly ignoring its dead relatives on the walls, seated next Artemis was Bianca, she looked less scared, less nervous, she even looked confident.

"Come, sit Percy Jackson, Janet Harker," seeing no other option, I sat down, Percy soon followed, he had a strange look on his face, it was as if he could not decide if he was being tricked or not.

"Are you surprised by my age?" Artemis asked Percy, she was studying him so intensely that he was squirming slightly.

"Uh, a little," Percy said awkwardly.

"I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer, this is the average of my Hunters, and all young maidens whom I patron, before they go astray." I had become distracted during this, not by the adorable deer that was now staring at me, but by the fact someone had used the whom, I had not heard whom in a while outside a book since that annoying Grammar Goblin in Idaho.

"Go astray?" Percy asked.

"Grow up, become smitten with boys, become silly, preoccupied, insecure, forget themselves," Percy blushed.

"Oh," cue the staring match between Percy and Zoë.

"Oh do stop that," I said angrily, "I don't want you two having a dominance competition every time you see each other," they instantly stopped.

"You must forgive my Hunters is they do not welcome you," Artemis said, "it is very rare that we would have boys in camp, boys are usually forbidden to have contact with the Hunters, the last one to see this camp," she trailed off, and turned to Zoë, "which one was it?"

"That boy in Colorado," Zoë reported stiffly, "you turned him into a jackalope."

"Ah yes, that, I enjoy making jackalopes," she nodded a very satisfied nod with a weirdly childish smile. "At any rate, I've asked you two here so that you might tell me more of the Manticore. Bianca has reported some of the, hmm, disturbing things the monster said. But she may not have understood them, I'd like to hear them from you, Percy you fought it, you go first."

"He didn't answer when I said he worked for Luke, instead he talked about a General of some kind, then he talked about a grand army, then he talked about the Great Stirring, which is apparently the return of some of the oldest and most powerful monsters, then he finished off with generic death and destruction, downfall of Olympus, that kind of thing. No, wait he talked about one monster, the most powerful of all, one which would destroy Olympus by itself." Artemis hummed to herself.

"Janet, what about you?" Artemis asked.

I shrugged, "I didn't hear what he said, I was too busy fighting the wicked witch of hair dye, I have encountered him before, he was working for a wizard called Voldemort. I defeated him, and got poisoned in the process, he now has something of a grudge against me. The terminator witch was not exactly chatty, so all I know is her name, she's called Tala."

"Hmm, I have been too slow to see the signs," Artemis said thoughtfully, "I must hunt the most powerful monster," Zoë had such a stony faced look that was trying so hard to not look scared that it was obvious she was scared, but she nodded.

"We will leave right away," Zoë said, her voice nervous and hesitant.

"No Zoë, I must do this alone," Zoë opened her mouth to protest, but Artemis spoke again, "this task is too dangerous, even for my Hunters, you know where I must start my search, you cannot go there with me."

Zoë pouted and frowned, "as you wish my lady."

"I will find this creature, and I shall bring it back to Olympus by the winter solstice, it will be all the proof I need to convince the Council of the Gods of how much danger we are in."

"You know what the monster is?" Percy asked me.

'I have no clue, but I know someone who might, but until then, I would guess Typhoon, it did take all of Olympus to defeat him last time, but it might not be raw power, a tactician maybe, or a sacrifice, or a monster to led all the other monsters, a demon of some kind, it is quite the question.'

"Let us pray I am wrong," Artemis said, it was so dramatic I half expected dramatic lightning in the background.

"Can a Goddess pray?" Percy asked, Artemis smiled.

"Before I go, I have a small task for you two."

"Does it involve being turned into a jackalope?" Percy asked, sounding genuinely scared she might say yes.

"Sadly, no, I want you two to escort the Hunters back to Camp Halfblood, they can stay there in safety until I return."

"What?" Shouted Zoë, "but, Artemis, we hate that place, the last time we stayed there," whatever she was going to say was cut off by Artemis.

"Yes, I know, but I'm sure Dionysus will not hold a grudge just because of a little misunderstanding, it's your right to use Cabin Eight whenever you are in need, besides, I heard they rebuilt the cabins you burnt down. And now there is one last decision to make," Artemis turned to Bianca, "have you made up your mind, my girl?"

Bianca hesitated, "I'm still thinking about it."

"Wait thinking about what?" Percy asked.

"They, they've invited me to join the hunt," Bianca said nervously.

"But, but, you can't," Percy protested, "you have to come to Camp Halfblood so Chiron can train you, it's the only way you can learn to survive."

"It is not the only way for a girl," Zoë said angrily.

"Bianca, camp is cool! It's got pegasus stables, and a sword-fighting arena and, I mean, what do you get by joining the Hunters?"

"To begin with, immortality," Zoë said.

"She's kidding, right?" Percy asked, causing me to giggle at the idea of Zoë growing a sense of humour.

"Zoë rarely kids about anything," Artemis said, "my Hunters follow me on my adventures, they are my maid servants, my companions, my sisters-in-arms, once they swear loyalty to me, they are indeed immortal, unless they fall in battle, which is unlikely, or if they break their oath."

"What oath?" Percy asked.

"To forswear men romantically forever," Artemis said,"to never grow up, never get married, to be a maiden eternally."

"Like you?" Percy asked, Artemis nodded.

'The wording of that oath, it leaves one question unanswered, I will asked later.'

"So, you just go around the country recruiting Halfbloods," Percy started before Zoë cut him off.

"Not just demigods, Lady Artemis does not discriminate by birth, all who honour the Goddess may join, demigod, witch nymph or mortal," Percy cut her off.

"Which are you then?" Percy asked, I slapped him around the back of the head.

"That is not thy concern boy."

"Your, once again, thy is antiquated," I said, "it's like listening to Shakespeare."

"The point is," Zoë said gritting her teeth in anger, "Bianca may join if she wishes, it is her choice."

"Bianca, you can't do this, it's nuts," Percy pleaded.

"Is it worth it?" Bianca asked Zoë, Zoë nodded, "what do I have to do?"

"Say this, I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis," Bianca repeated hesitantly, "I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the hunt," Bianca repeated, "if Lady Artemis accepts thy pledge, then it is binding."

"I accept," Artemis said smiling, the brazier burnt brighter and the light became silver.

"Your," I corrected Zoë, who glared at me.

Bianca took a deep breath, "I feel... stronger."

"Welcome sister," Zoë said as emotionless as usual, she seemed to only have one emotion, which was anger.

"Remember your pledge, it is now your life," Artemis said warmly.

"I have a question," I said drawing the attention of everyone, "the oath talks about the company of men, but what about the company of women, some girls like that."

Artemis blushed, "well, um, it's not forbidden, because, when I wrote the pledge, I did not think about it, so technically it is allowed, if frowned upon."

"Oh," I said.

"Why do you ask?" Artemis asked playfully, "are you thinking of joining?"

I blushed like a beetroot, "no, I was just curious," Artemis laughed.

"Dawn is approaching, Zoë, break camp, you must get to Long Island quickly, and safely, I shall summon a ride from my brother," Zoë did not look at happy at the idea of Apollo giving us a ride, but she led Bianca out the tent, I followed them because I wanted to talk to Alice, or rather to not have to listen to Percy inevitably embarrass himself in front of Artemis.

* * *

Twenty minutes of furious camp breaking later, we found ourselves standing on the cliff edge facing the east, allegedly the dawn was only minutes away, but it was so dark, and snowy it still looked like midnight, Percy and I were filling in the other on what had happened in Artemis' tent.

Grover wince when we said that the Hunters were visiting camp, "the last time the Hunters visited camp, it didn't go well."

"How'd they even show up here?" Percy asked the middle distance, "I mean, they just appeared out of nowhere."

"And Bianca joined them," Thalia said curling her nose in disgust, "it's all Zoë's fault, that stuck-up no good," Thalia trailed off into general grumbling sounds.

"Can you blame her?" Grover asked dreamily, "eternity with Artemis," he heaved a big sigh, I almost expected to see hearts in his eyes.

Thalia sighed angrily, and rolled her eyes, "you satyrs, you're all in love with Artemis, don't you get that she'll never love you back?"

"But, but, she's so into nature," Grover said as if it justified everything.

"You're nuts," Thalia said.

"Nuts, and berries, yeah," Grover said dreamily as he stared at Artemis.


	19. Chapter 19

Eventually the sun began to rise, there was a suddenly burst of warmth and light which made everyone avert their eyes. The heat and light intensified to the point where I considered setting up a ward before I got burnt. When it ended there was an expensive looking car parked on the cliff edge in a circle of melted snow. The driver got out, he looked seventeen or eighteen, with the same blond hair, and good looks as his sons, he had a smile that would have made Lockhart jealous, he was dressed in jeans, loafer and a yellow t-shirt.

"Wow," Thalia muttered, "Apollo is hot."

"Well, he is the sun God," Percy replied, as oblivious as usual.

"That's not what I meant," Thalia said blushing brightly.

"Little sister," Apollo said smiling, "what's up? You never call, you never write, I was getting worried," well, he was definitely the God of drama.

"I'm fine Apollo," Artemis said with a sigh of tolerated annoyance, "and I am not your little sister."

"Hey, I was born first."

"We're twins," Artemis said angrily, "how many millennia do we have to argue about this?"

"So, what's up?" Apollo said flashing another dazzling smile. "Got the girls with you I see. You all need some tips on archery?" There was the simultaneous sound of the archers drawing their bows.

"I need a favour," Artemis said gritting her teeth, "I have some hunting to do alone, I need you to take my companions to Camp Halfblood."

"Sure sis," Apollo said overly happily, "I feel a haiku coming on," the simultaneous groan from the Hunters told me to be prepared, "green grass breaks through snow, Artemis pleads for my help, I am so cool."

"That last line was only four syllables," Artemis said.

"Was it?" Apollo blushed.

"Yes, what about, I am so big-headed?" Artemis asked.

"No, that's six," he started humming and muttering to himself.

"Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase since he visited Japan, 'tis..." she was going to continue but I interrupted.

"It is, or it's," I said, "'tis is also outdated."

"Why do thou keep correcting me?" Zoë asked angrily.

"You, not thou, and it's because you talk like you're in a bad Shakespearian play."

"As I was saying," Zoë said through gritted teeth, "it is not as bad as the time he visited Limerick, if I had to hear one more poem starting, there once was a Goddess from Sparta, I will break something."

"I got it! I am so awesome, that's five syllables," Apollo said as if he was expecting applause, when none came he quickly moved on, "and now sis, transportation for Hunters, you say? Good timing, I was just about ready to roll."

"These demigods will need a ride," Artemis said gesturing in our general direction.

"No problem," he looked us over, "let's see, Thalia right? I've heard all about you."

Thalia blushed, "hi, Lord Apollo," she said nervously.

"Zeus' girl, yes?" Apollo said with a laugh, "guess that makes you my half-sister," he ruffled her hair, which really annoyed her, "used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back, I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees, I remember one time..."

"Brother, you should get going," Artemis interrupted, probably saving us from another Haiku.

"Oh right," Apollo said, he looked at Percy, "Percy Jackson?"

"Yeah, I mean yes sir," Percy said nervously.

Apollo studied Percy, who was fidgeting nervously under the God's gaze, "well," he said cheerfully, "we'd better load up, ride only goes one way, west, if you miss it you miss it." Apollo turned back to his car and pressed a button on his keys, the car chirped twice and glowed again, causing us all to look away, when the glow died down it had been replaced with a yellow school bus. "Right then, everybody in," Zoë started ordering around the Hunters, who started loading the bus, having nothing to load I just got on the bus, and sat down in a seat, Alice sat next to me. Eventually when the loading was done the Hunters took the back seats whilst Percy, Grover, Nico and Thalia sat near to us at the front, Apollo got on last. "So, who wants to drive?"

"This is so cool," Nico said, "is this really the sun? I though Helios and Selene were the sun and the moon, how come sometimes it's them, and sometimes you, and Artemis?"

"Downsizing," Apollo said with a carefree smile, "the Romans started it, they couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and gave their jobs to sis and I. She got the moon, I got the sun, it was pretty annoying at first, but I got this cool car out of it all."

"But, how does it work? I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas, or plasma, or whatever."

Apollo chuckled and ruffled Nico's hair, much to Nico's annoyance, "that rumour probably got started because Artemis, used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that's more interesting, humans have a lot riding on the sun, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything sunnier. The chariot is built out of the collective dreams of humans about the sun, kid. It's as old as human civilisation, every day it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it, make sense?"

"No," a bewildered Nico said shaking his head.

"Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous flying solar car."

"Can I drive?" Nico asked excitedly.

"No, too young," Grover raised his hand, "too furry," he looked at Thalia, and smiled, "daughter of Zeus, lord of the sky, perfect."

"Oh no," Thalia shook her head, "no thanks."

"C'mon, how old are you?" Apollo asked, Thalia hesitated.

"I don't know," Thalia had been turned into a tree at the age of twelve, and had been that way for seven years, so she was nineteen, except she had not aged to nineteen, she was somewhere in-between, and still felt like she was twelve, so, her age was a little bit of a headache.

"You're fifteen, almost sixteen," Apollo said after a little thought.

"How do you know that?"

"Hey, I'm the God of prophecy, I know stuff, you'll turn sixteen in a week."

"That's my birthday," Thalia muttered, "December twenty-second."

"Which means you're old enough now to drive with a learner's permit," Thalia hesitated, "I know what you're going to say, you don't deserve an honour like driving the sun chariot. Don't sweat it, Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid I trained. You're Zeus' daughter, he's not going to blast you out of the sky," Apollo laughed, but no-one joined him.

"I was actually going to say I don't have a learner's permit," Thalia said, Apollo frowned.

"Ah, that is a problem, well, looks like I'm driving," he hopped into the driver's seat, and we set off.

Flying above New England was an interesting experience to say the least, we passed over sleepy little snow covered roofs, and snow clogged streets. It was all very idyllic, it all looked like the inside of one of the snow globes that appear in shops every winter, or at least it did until Apollo started reciting Haiku after Haiku about how great he was, then it became less idyllic and more annoying. We touched down on the shore of the canoe lake, startling some Nymphs and campers as we did so, we all piled out of the sun bus to get away from the Haiku spouting God. No sooner had the Hunters unloaded the bus then Apollo set off again with a wave and a smile as he continued his daily journey.


	20. Chapter 20

I had not seen camp in then winter, I thought the magic boundaries would have kept it warm and sunny, instead, it was chilly, but not cold enough to merit a spell to keep me warm or to make me shiver, but definitely wintry. There was also a light dusting of snow on the ground, and the strawberries, and the cabin roofs, on everything really, someone had been decorating the cabins with little flickering lights made of magic fire. There were little lights twinkling in the woods and in the windows of the big house, and weirdly enough, it looked like the Oracle had a fire going in the attic. Which brought up the weird image of the Oracle in a hideous Christmas jumper, toasting marshmallows and chestnuts on an open fire.

"Whoa is that a climbing wall?" Nico asked pointing at the climbing wall where some brave soul was attempting to climb.

"Yeah," Percy said.

"Why is there lava pouring down it?" Nico now sounded a bit scared.

"Little extra challenge, come on, I'll introduce you to Chiron, Zoë have you met..."

"I know Chiron," she said stiffly, "tell him we will be in Cabin Eight, Hunters, follow me."

"I'll show you the way," Grover said helpfully.

"We know the way," Zoë said rudely, Grover deflated slightly, the Hunters shouldered their packs and walked off towards the cabin, Grover headed for the woods

"Who's Chiron?" Nico asked.

"Our activities director," Percy answered, "he's, well, you'll see."

"If those Hunter girls don't like him, that's good enough for me, let's go," Percy and Nico walked off in the direction of the big house.

"Well, let's go," Alice said, we walked off towards the Hermes Cabin, camp was so empty. There were a few year rounders about, and most of the magicians were still here, but I knew Drake had probably taken the floo back to Vegas by now. John had probably also gone home, he never really talked about his family, even when asked directly, I assumed he did not like them much, but he was still only a summer camper. In fact, I doubt there were more than thirty campers present at camp, not counting the Hunters.

"It's so empty," I said as we waved to Beckendorf at his forge, his being the only hammer sounding from the usually cacophonous building.

"I know, I thought there would be more year rounders than this," Alice said, she looked at the decorations and huffed irritably. "Why are all the decoration fires red? It's boring, why can't they be multicoloured?" I clicked my fingers and the fires changed to various colours and shades, until they formed a full rainbow across all the cabins. "Thanks Janet, I haven't thanked you for saving me earlier, so thanks for that," she did something I totally did not expect, she kissed my cheek, I blushed.

"Y, you're welcome, what are friends for?" I said, Alice smiled at me, I smiled back.

"So, are you going home?" I asked, nervous for the answer.

"Nah, Dad's in Tokyo for an art show, Japan is not a safe place to be a demigod, the local spirits get grumpy, he won't be back for another three weeks, so, right after winter holidays end. It's good he's getting into these art shows, but they take him away for so long, and I so rarely see him anymore."

"Well, Dad often gets randomly called to the other side of the world to deal with something he'll get an owl telling him that something is happening and they need his help. It could be that the sasquatches are acting up, or a wizard in China is trying to destroy something, or investigate a murder in Panama, or, werewolves in London, vampires in Romania, that one is particularly popular."

"We have busy parents, well, parent, I have no idea what Mum is doing, aside from messaging me once a year, I think she owns a health food store somewhere, or is obsessed with it in some fashion. Butch and I often get random baskets of things like wholemeal cookies, or muffins, or whatever." I had forgotten about Butch, Alice's older brother, I never really saw him or talked to him, he looked like son of Ares, he had a shaven head and he was very muscled, but he was actually a really nice guy, who spent most of his time with the pegasuses.

"I'm really tired," Alice said, flopping down on her bed dramatically, I smiled at my friend's antics, she suddenly sat up, "by the way, how's the head?"

"Fine, I haven't noticed it really for a while," I prodded my bandage, when no pain came I unwrapped my bandage, "how does it look?"

"No mark what so ever," Alice said cheerfully.

"So, that Cassie sure knew what she was doing," I said throwing the bandage in the bin. Alice and I set about unpacking our things from school, "Alice, I'm going to see Coeus again, I need to talk to him."

"Why?" Alice asked.

"Thorn mentioned the most powerful monster in the world, it's what Artemis is hunting, so, I need to know what it is, in case I see it, we can't let it fall into Luke's hands. I think Coeus will know what it is, he's really old and intelligent, it's right up his alley."

"Oh, yeah, that would be bad," Alice said tiredly, "I'm going to have a nap," she kicked off her shoes and climbed into bed, I did the same.

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Nico's face, which scared me half to death, "sorry, it's just, no-one will talk to me, Percy's gone off to his own cabin, the Hunters won't even give me the time, I know, I asked one, I can't find Bianca, Thalia is scary, and the other campers are all prepared to fight the Hunters, so they're a little grumpy."

"What do you want Nico?" I asked groggily.

"Who's your parent?" Nico asked curiously.

"Hecate, Goddess of magic and crossroads, and before you ask, Alice's mother is Iris, Goddess of rainbows, and one of the messengers of Olympus."

"Cool, oh, Percy asked me to tell you that there's going to be a game of capture the flag against the Hunters, he and Thalia are captains."

"Oh great, trying to fight the Hunters in the woods, that is not going to be fun," I sighed and swung myself out of bed.

"Um, Mr D said you've been put on joint guard duty with someone in like two days time, I can't remember who, what is guard duty?"

"We have to guard the Golden Fleece until the dragon gets large enough to protect it by himself, it started last summer, Chiron thinks that it should be over by the summer.

"Wait a second, you have the actual Golden Fleece? As in Jason and the Argonauts Golden Fleece?"

"Yeah, I'll show you," I opened the door of the cabin, it was late afternoon, I had slept through lunch, I led Nico up the hill to Thalia's tree.

We were stopped by Lou Ellen, who was dressed in full armour, she was evidently on guard duty, "hi Janet, why are you coming up here?"

"I'm showing Nico the Fleece, he's new. Lou Ellen, meet Nico, Nico, meet my half-sister Lou Ellen."

"Nice to meet ya," Lou Ellen said reaching out a hand for Nico to shake.

"And you," Nico muttered.

We eventually reached the tree, which had grown a few feet since the year before, twinkling in a branch, that was now about five feet off the ground, was the Golden Fleece, I breathed deeply, the air around the fleece was saturated in magic. There was also the baby dragon sitting at the bottom of the tree, it was about the size of a Doberman, it currently did not have the usual dragon guarding tendencies, or the foul temper, and was actual like a big puppy, "ta da," I said, "one Golden Fleece, one of the most powerful magical artefacts in the world."

"Wow," Nico said, we was looking at everything in amazement, "everything looks so different," he was staring at his hands, the tree, and the grass.

"Yep, that's the magic of the fleece," I said, in the distance a conch horn blew, "oh, time for supper," I led him down the hill, passing Butch, who must have been the other guard, and Lou Ellen who were being relieved by an Athena camper, and an Ares camper. "You go ahead, I'll wake up Alice," Nico nodded, and walked off, I returned to the Hermes cabin, Alice was still asleep on her bunk, she was snoring slightly. "Alice," I said as I shook her shoulder, causing her head to roll from side to side on her pillow, "Alice, time for supper," she blearily looked up at me.

"Nope, still dreaming," she said in a dreamy voice, I pinched her nose, "ow, what was that for?" She asked holding her nose.

"Supper-time," I said with a smile, Alice sighed and got out of bed.

* * *

Just a quick note from the author, it appears that I have reviewed this story, this is not the case, I sort of broke my computer a little (it's better now) so used the main family computer, unfortunately, I forgot to log off and my brother thought it was his own account and reviewed it, so sorry about that and the site has no way to remove your own reviews (which should totally be a thing), I don't know how many times he reviewed, but this is the only one I found.


	21. Chapter 21

Dinnertime was a pretty miserable affair for Percy and Thalia, who were sitting by themselves, and looking miserable about it, the Hephaestus, Ares, Artemis and Hermes tables were the only ones with more than five people on, there were three of Apollo's children, four Demeter, both of Mr D's, Athena had four and Aphrodite had four, in total I counted thirty seven campers and twenty five Hunters. On the whole, dinner was uneventful, the Stolls were trying to talk Nico into playing poker with them, but wisely enough Nico was refusing, the Hunters were loud on their table, whilst the Athena campers were silent. I sacrifice a portion of my dinner to Coeus, instead of my usual sacrifice to Mum, Chiron made a toast to the Gods, and welcomed the Hunters of Artemis, to lacklustre applause, he also announced the game of capture the flag, to much more applause. The rules were as usual, no sharp arrowheads, no dangerous magic, no legilimency, no dismembering, no excessive injuries.

The next morning Zoë caused an uproar, she told anyone who would listen, and quite a few who would not, that the Hunters needed to leave camp, when reminded that they needed orders from Artemis, Zoë said that Artemis had been kidnapped, and was now lost, this caused quite the uproar in camp, only settled by Chiron telling her in no uncertain terms to be quiet.

Grover had also been busy, he had found a Hunter's pamphlet in Annabeth's backpack, which did not really make sense, but it made Grover and Percy think Annabeth had been about to join them, and finally, to top everything off, Percy had a demigod dream.

"What did you see?" Grover asked him.

"It was a shadowy foggy hill, covered in ruins, Luke was holding something heavy, it was killing him, but I couldn't see what, it looked like the fog was crushing him. Then, something rumbled, and things collapsed, huge black rock like things fell, but Annabeth caught them, she took the whatever from Luke, then Luke walked off, leaving her with the weight," Percy swallowed and wiped his eyes. I added weird mist and black rock to my list of things to look out for in the future.

* * *

That evening was the capture the flag game, it was amazing, every camper donned armour to play, even the Aphrodite cabin got involved, apparently they had a feud to settle with the Hunters. I was put on defence with Lou Ellen, the Hephaestus cabin, and most of the inexperienced campers. Nico looked rather silly in his too big helmet, ridiculously oversized breastplate, and sword that he could barely raise, but he looked happy and excited, so no-one commented about it. "Heroes," Chiron started his pre-game speech, "you know the rules! Demigods to the west, Hunters to the east, the river is the boundary. I will be referee and medic, no intentional maiming, all non-lethal magic items are allowed, no legilimency, without further ado, to your positions.

Thalia laid out the plan for the attackers, which I ignored, seeing as I was in defence, she set Percy as head of defence, which meant we had no plans seeing as the Athena campers were leading the raiding squads. I placed an illusion stone on top of Zeus' fist, a pile of rocks which looks like a fist from one angle, instantly an illusion flag appeared on the rock pile, the actual flag was then tied up a climbable tree by Lou Ellen. I took my position, carefully eyeing the trees, relying on my sight alone was more difficult thanks to the trees, I heard movement, I turned, sword and wand at the ready, it was only Percy running off into the woods, I sighed, 'what happened to the sort of plan of stand around and wait?'

As soon as Percy was out of earshot the Hunters melted out the trees, bows drawn, arrows notched, "surrender," one said.

"Why?" I asked, "we outnumber you," which was true, there were ten of them, and eighteen of us.

"We have bows," she replied.

"No you don't," I said.

"Yes we do," I set fire to the bow strings.

"No, you don't," I said, the campers advanced.

"Bah, we still win," one Hunter said.

"Why?" I asked, I felt someone grab the illusion, I turned to see a startled Zoë trying to grab the air, "sorry Zoë, we outsmarted you," the other campers look equally surprised.

Zoë then began cursing in an ancient language that I did not know, but I got the gist, she lunged at me, hunting knife drawn, I was barely able to create a shield, stopping the knife inches from my shoulder. The Hunters and Campers had sprung into action, fighting was going on around me, but I was unable to help because I was too busy trying to stop myself from become a shish kebab. Zoë was really fast, I was stuck playing defensive, as I raised shield after shield. Rather annoyingly her knife appeared to be magic and was disrupting my shields when I raised them, causing them to collapse after each block. Normally at this point I would use legilimency, but, as that was not allowed I was stuck, I could not concentrate long enough to cast a different spell. I could hear something over the sound of the fighting, it was either cheering, shouting, or screaming, it was kind of hard to tell. Zoë stabbed at me, I managed to step to the side, and, in a split second decision, I push her. She overbalanced and fell, her knife spinning off into the undergrowth, she tried to get up, but, I stupefied her, and she collapsed again.

I turned back to the others, the Hephaestus cabin had manages to set up a phalanx, whilst the Hunters kept trying to get around it, the other campers were scattered around the clearing, most either unconscious, scrambling off into the undergrowth, or sitting still, evidently they were technically dead. One Huntress saw me watching and decided I would make easy pickings, having not noticed the unconscious Zoë behind me, she drew her knife and advanced on me, "I like your shoes," I said, the Huntress looked down, and I stupefied her, I sighed, "why do people fall for that one?"

The remaining four Huntresses had now noticed me, and the unconscious Zoë behind me, they broke off into the forest, and fled, Beckendorf came over panting from exhaustion, "well, I think we got them." He sat down on a stump, there was a cut on his arm and his forehead, but they were not deep, and were already scabbing over.

"Yep, so, hands up who's left?" I asked the clearing. Aside from Beckendorf, four other Hephaestus campers raised their hands, as did Nico, and Drew from Aphrodite, who must have talked them out of fighting, annoyingly, Lou Ellen did not raise her hand so we down one child of Hecate.

"Well, we better get back to guarding, so, where is the flag?" Beckendorf asked.

"Over there," I said, they looked over to see the flag, on its standard, halfway up a half fallen oak.

Beckendorf laughed, "great idea, but a little warning would have been nice."

"Well, then you would have kept looking at it, if you knew the flag wasn't real you might not have guarded it as well, they might have guessed something was up."

"I suppose you're right, I'm not exactly a child of Apollo when it comes to acting," Beckendorf said with a chuckle as he stood up. "Well, back to position," he said to the other demigods who had gotten their breath back, except Nico who was still panting like a steam train.

We took up our positions again, but it turned out to be unnecessary, the conch horn blew only two minutes later after no sign of another attack by the Hunters. Nico climbed up the tree and brought the flag back down, and I deactivated my illusion stone, and put it back in my pocket.

* * *

I am so going to kill my brother (not really, before someone calls the police on me), I finally managed to get a straight answer out of him, he was trying to annoy me and make me look bad, so he signed the review as me on the 20th chapter and then saw the person who was going through the story reviewing every chapter and copied their way of signing reviews, I hate him so much right now (not that I don't normally)


	22. Chapter 22

The Demigods were rather boastful when we assembled at the end of the game, and finally managed to cart everyone off to the infirmary. When I finally managed to track down Percy, he had twisted his ankle after he left us. I found Thalia giving him a chewing out, deciding that Thalia was scarier than I was, I left her to it, and went off to find Alice. Alice was with the Stolls, or rather Alice was upside down in a tree and the Stolls were trying to help her down, "Alice, what are you doing up there?" I asked.

"Oh, just hanging around," I sighed at her pun, "please help me down," I lifted her up slowly and sliced the rope with fire, I then lowered her to the floor.

"Thanks," she said as she dizzily got to her feet, "both of you," she was still looking at me, "and you four," she said to the Stolls, her face looked rather flushed.

"Come on," I said as I supported her on the way out the forest.

"Did we win yet?" She asked, she sounded rather out of it, which I blamed on the blood that had rushed to her head.

"Yes Alice, we won," I said, she grunted and almost collapsed, so after having to almost drag her back to Camp, I got Alice into bed in the cabin, seeing as her problem was not based around injury, just a blood rush.

"Ow, my head," she said as I lay her down in her bed, I was about to leave when she grabbed my arm, "don't go Janet, stay," I laughed at my friend as she pouted at me.

"How can I say no to that face? What do you want me to do?" Alice smiled.

"Read me a story," she said childishly, "there's one in my bag under the bed."

I slid down the ladder, and pulled her bag out from under the bed, inside was a copy of Gulliver's travels and a Penguins Classics copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles, "which one do you want?"

"Sherlock," Alice said, "I like trying to work out the mystery before it's revealed, I never get it, but, I can try," I picked up the books and climbed back up to Alice's bunk, and started reading (aided by a translation charm.)

Alice fell asleep within twenty minutes, so I tucked her in, and left her to sleep.

* * *

I found Percy and Thalia arguing by the lake, a crowd of campers had gathered around them, at a safe distance. As with most arguments between the two of them, Thalia was soaked, and Percy was a bit fried, I sighed and walked over. "If you two don't stop arguing I will turn you into marmosets," I shouted, everyone turned to face me, and paled, which did not normally happen, "there's something behind me isn't there?" Nico, who had been in the crowd nodded, I turned, the Oracle was gliding towards me in a puff of green smoke, like a mummified genie.

"This is impossible," Chiron said as he stepped out from the crowd of demigods, his face pale, and his voice shaky with nerves, "she has never left the attic, never!" And yet here she was in all her dead, and tie dyed glory, she walked right up to Zoë, and stopped.

A voice hissed inside our heads, some people clutched at their ears to try and block it out, but the voice was a thought not a sound, " _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the might Python_.

 _Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

 _One shall be lost in the land without rains,_

 _One shall head east for knowledge of old,_

 _Avalon's sister fights the demon from cold,_

 _The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

 _Campers, and Hunters combined prevail,_

 _The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

 _And one shall perish by a parent's hand."_

The Oracle then calmly sat on a rock as if she had been there all along, conversation sprung up almost immediately. I walked over to Chiron, but before I could say anything, Chiron made an announcement, "all camp counsellors are to go to the rec-room, as are Lou Ellen and Janet Harker, we invite Zoë to join us. Also, someone deal with the Oracle please."

Within ten minutes, representatives of nine cabins were there (all of Ares was in the infirmary), Lou, Zoë, Mr D, Chiron, Bianca, Grover (for some reason) and myself were also sitting around a table, Mr D, as always, was catering, Grover approved of the magic Cheez Whiz, and started hoovering them up with great abandon. "This is pointless, it is no time for talking," Zoë declared between glares at me, "our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West," Bianca said happily.

"And east," I reminded her, "someone needs to retrieve that knowledge of old."

Bianca blushed, she had changed so much over the past few days, her hair was now braided, rather than loose, she now had freckles across her nose and the tops of her cheeks, she had filled out a little, and like all Huntresses, she literally glowed, faintly, but just enough to notice, "you heard the prophecy, five shall go west to the goddess in chains, we can get five Hunters to go west one to go east."

"There's also the matter of Avalon's sister," I said, "do you happen to have someone who fits that description?"

"Who was Avalon?" Percy asked, "is that a name I should know?"

"Probably not," I said, "Avalon is an old English legend, it was the land of Arthur in some versions of his mythology, it was a country somewhere in Britain, it was destroyed by the Saxons, or the Gods, or an earthquake, it really depends on who you ask. However, there was also a wizard who used the name Avalon, Merlin," Percy laughed, "he was a real wizard, he helped discover most of the rules of magic, he sometimes signed his letters Merlin of Avalon, or later in life, just Avalon, it's where the name Avalonian magic comes from."

"So, we need to find the sister of a mythical wizard? That's not hard at all," Percy said sarcastically.

I rubbed my temples, "Merlin was a son of Hecate, Lou, and I are his half-sisters."

"Problem solved, one of you two must be on the quest," Grover said.

"Or any other daughter of Hecate," Zoë said.

"Yes, well, if you can find one willing, be my guest, but Circe is a little busy thanks to Annabeth, Percy, Janet and Alice, and there aren't any others who are alive, trained and who may be even remotely willing," Lou said.

"It matters not, Artemis is being held and thee be wasting time."

"You are, not thee be," I said, Zoë growled at me, I sighed, I was not making friends here.

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said angrily, "campers and hunters together prevail, we're supposed to do this together."

Zoë recoiled in horror, "we do not need thy help."

"Your, nobody has said thy for like three hundred years, get with the times," Thalia grumbled.

Zoë's face twisted as she tried to form a word, "yerr," she sounded like a pirate having a fit, "we do not need yerr help."

"Forget it," Thalia shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help, Campers, and Hunters must cooperate."

"There's also that line about needing a child of Hecate," I muttered.

"Or do they," Mr D mused as he appeared to be taste testing a diet soda, "one shall be lost, one shall perish, that sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you cooperate?"

"Mr D," Chiron said in the tone of a school teacher talking to an unruly pupil, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raised an eyebrow, "sorry my dear centaur, just trying to be helpful."

"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said suddenly banging her fist on the table, "I don't like it either Zoë, but you know prophesies. You want to fight one?" Zoë grimaced, but shook her head.

"We must not delay," Chiron said, "tomorrow is Monday, this very Saturday, December twenty-first is the Winter Solstice."

"Oh joy, another dull annual meeting," muttered Mr D, who appeared to be counting dust motes.

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoë said, "she has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos' minions, if she is absent, the Gods may decide nothing, and we will lose another year of war preparations."

"Are you suggesting that the Gods have trouble acting together young lady?" Mr D said, 'I wonder how much of his mind is actually in this room, right now, one percent, less even, maybe just enough for us to see him.'

"Yes, Lord Dionysus," Zoë said seriously, staring down the God, as though she were daring him to do tell her off for her statement.

Mr D smiled, "just checking, you're right of course, carry on."

"I must agree with Zoë," Chiron said frowning in thought, "Artemis' presence at the Winter council is critical, we have only a week to find her, and possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide goes on this quest."

"Three and two," Percy blurted out, we all looked at him in confusion, he blushed slightly before continuing, "we're supposed to have five, three Hunters, two from Camp Halfblood, that's more than fair."

Thalia was the first to nod, "well it does make sense," when Thalia agrees to something usually the rest of Camp just follows along.

Zoë grunted her agreement, "I would prefer to take all the Hunters, we will need the strength of numbers."

"You will be retracing the Goddess' path," Chiron interjected, "moving quickly, no doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same, the prophecy was clear, the bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? Too many Hunters spoil the scent, a small group is best."

Zoë picked up a ping pong paddle from the table and studied it like it was a knife. "This monster, the Bane of Olympus, I have hunted at Lady Artemis' side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast may be."

"I know someone who might," I said, everyone turned to me, "Coeus, the Titan of Rational Thought, he's currently in Diagon Alley, in England."

Zoë glowered at the table, "I do not trust a Titan, even if Zeus did free him, even if he did not fight in the War, I would not trust anything he says."

"Hey, he's a nice guy, a bit strange, but nice," Zoë shrugged but continued glowering, a sneer on her face.

"Well, don't look at me," Mr D said absently, "I'm a young God, remember? I don't keep track of all these ancient monsters and dusty Titans, they make for terrible party conversations."

"Chiron, you don't have any ideas about the monster?" Percy asked.

Chiron pursed his lips in thought, "I have several ideas, none of them good, and none of them quite make sense, Typhon, for instance, could fit this description, he was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Ketos. But, if either of these were stirring, we would know it, they are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers, Poseidon would have already sounded the alarm. I fear the monster may be more elusive, perhaps even more powerful."

"What if it's not?" I asked, "what if it's something more tactically useful, like a tactician, or a magician, or something that can release the other Titans?"

"Hmm, it is a possibility," Chiron muttered, "I haven't heard anything from Mantis, or even Caesar in a while, they could become real banes for Olympus, but they were both loyal from what I last heard of them."

"That about a primordial deity, like Nyx, or Geras, they could cause serious problems, they have power anyone should fear," Chiron nodded.

"Can we stop talking about possible problems?" Percy asked, "we have other things to decide."

"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor said (note the pronoun, Camp had unofficially decided that all problems were Annabeth, Percy or Thalia's problem), "it sounds like at least two of the five will die."

"One shall be lost in the land without rain," Beckendorf said, "if I were you I'd stay out the desert," the rest of the table muttered agreements.

"And the Titan's curse one must withstand," Silena said, surprising everyone, like all Aphrodite kids, Silena is usually uninterested and silent during questions not relating to clothes and herself, "what could that mean?"

Chiron and Zoë shared nervous glances, "it depends," I said, "if the Oracle meant the curse of one particular Titan, or of all Titans, because those are very different curses."

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover said with a mouthful of Cheez Whiz and ping ping balls, "how is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?" Percy, and Thalia shared a glance, I knew they were thinking about the Prophecy about a child of the Big Three saving or dooming Olympus when they turn sixteen. 'Thalia's birthday is coming up, but surely Zeus wouldn't, would he?'

"There will be deaths, that much we know," Chiron said grimly.

"Oh goody," muttered Dionysus, everyone turned to glare at him, he was reading a wine magazine, "ah, Pinot Noir is making a comeback," he looked up, "don't mind me."

"Percy is right," Silena said, "two campers should go."

"Oh I see," Zoë said sarcastically, "and I suppose yee volunteer."

"You," I said, I was really getting fed up with Shakespeare over there, "not yee."

"I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters," Silena said hotly as she glared at Zoë, "don't look at me."

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not want to be looked at," Zoë scoffed, "what would thy mother say?" Silena actually had to be restrained by the Stolls, which was a first.

"Your, not thy."

"Stop it," Beckendorf growled, when angry Beckendorf is a big scary guy with a big scary voice, so everyone was immediately silent, "let's start with the Hunters, which three of you will go?"

Zoë stood, "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe, she is our best tracker."

"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Clifford, I mean Travis said.

Zoë nodded, "the one who put an arrow in my helmet?" Connor asked.

"Yes," Zoë snapped, grinding her teeth together, "why?"

"Oh nothing," Travis said smiling the smile that makes you worry about how secure your luggage locks are, "just, we have a t-shirt for her from the camp store," he held up a big silver t-shirt with _Artemis the Moon Goddess Hunting Tour 2009_ written on the front, followed by a list of places, "it's a collector's item, she was admiring it, you want to give it to her?"

Zoë, not knowing the Stolls sighed, and took the shirt, "as I was saying, I will take Phoebe, and Bianca."

"Me?" Bianca squeaked, " but, I'm so new, I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine," Zoë insisted, "there is no better way to prove thyself," Bianca closed her mouth, and looked at the floor.

"Yourself," I said, Zoë glared at me, I glared back, Zoë looked away first.

"And for Campers?" Chiron asked, he looked each of us in the eye.

"Me!" Grover shouted bolting to his feet, upsetting the table as he did so, "anything to help Artemis," Grover bumping the table caused both of the legs at his end to fold in, the table collapsed, I caught everything with the air before it hit the floor, Grover blushed and set up the table again, and I put the items back on the table.

Zoë wrinkled her nose, "I think not Satyr, you are not even a Halfblood."

"But, he is camper," Thalia said, "and he's got a Satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracking song yet Grover?"

"Absolutely," Grover said with determination glinting in his eyes.

Zoë wavered before giving in, "very well, and the second camper."

Thalia stood, "I'll go," she glared at the rest of us.

"Whoa, wait a sec," Percy said, standing up "I want to go too."

Chiron studied everyone, but Grover spoke first, "oh yeah, I forgot, Percy has to go, I didn't mean, I'll stay," Grover said dejectedly, "Percy should have my place."

"He cannot, he is a boy," Zoë said angrily, "I won't have Hunters travelling with a boy."

"You travelled here with me," Percy reminded her.

"That was a short term emergency, and it was ordered by the Goddess, I shall not across country and fight many monsters in the company of a boy."

"Cross the country, or travel across the country," I sighed.

"What about Grover?" Percy asked.

"He does not count, he's a Satyr, he is not technically a boy."

"Hey," Grover objected, "words hurt you know."

"I have to go, I need to be on this quest," Percy said.

"Why?" Zoë asked slyly, "because of thy friend Annabeth?"

"Your," I got the feeling she was just trying to annoy me.

Percy blushed, "no, I mean, partly, I just feel like I'm supposed to go," he looked around the table for support.

"No," Zoë said, "I must insist upon this, I will take a Satyr if I must, but not a male hero."

"What about the person heading east, surely I can take that place on the quest, I mean, just about the only thing to the east is the ocean, and the ocean is my kind of place."

"No," I said, "I'm heading east, you forget what is on the other side of the ocean, I think I know who to ask about the ancient knowledge, or at least who to ask about who to ask, and Percy, they live somewhere you cannot reach. Besides, daughter of Hecate only remember?"

"But, but, the knowledge may be at the bottom of the sea, what would you do then?"

"There are seven different spells to breath under water, as well as potions and ingredients" I said, "I will be fine."

Percy sighed, "fine," he said as he glared at Zoë.

"The quest is for Artemis, the Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions," Chiron said, he sounded sad for Percy.

"I approve of Janet going east," Zoë said.

"So be it," Chiron said, "Thalia and Grover will accompany Zoë, Phoebe, and Bianca as they journey west, whilst Janet shall head east. You shall leave at first light, may the Gods, present company included, be with you." On that I turned to leave, "Janet, if you would like, I can get someone else to do guard duty for you tonight."

I thought about it, "no thanks Chiron, I doubt I will be able to sleep tonight, besides, tomorrow shouldn't be too strenuous, I'm only taking the floo to London, that's unpleasant, but not tiring."

"Very well," Chiron said, "if you so wish."

* * *

I did not see Percy at dinner, his seat was empty, he was probably sulking, however, Alice was now awake, and very excited about me going on a quest. "Oh, it's so exciting," she said bouncing up and down in her seat, "you're going on a quest, an actual sanctioned quest, I know we've already been on one together. But, I hope it goes better than Idaho, please don't die, I don't want you to leave me."

I laughed, "calm down Alice, I'm just going to see Coeus, find out some lost information, and then return to America to tell people."

"Yeah, but someone might try to stop you, like that witch Tala, or Thorn, or maybe Luke," Alice said, she was now almost talking as fast the Hunter Cassie had.

"Alice, I'll be fine," I said, "if anything gets in my way, I won't be there for long."

Alice laughed, "that's my Janet, always over-confident."

"Not over-confident, just confident," I muttered.


	23. Chapter 23

After dinner I returned to the Hermes cabin, strapped on my armour, and walked up Halfblood hill, two guards were already on duty. They were a new kid in Apollo, whose name I had forgotten, and Steven, a wizard in Hermes, "you can go now," I said to Jake, he nodded, and walked down the hill.

"Hello," Will said smiling at me, "I'm afraid I don't know your name, I'm Will, Will Solace, son of Apollo," he held out his hand.

"Janet Harker, daughter of Hecate," I said shaking his hand.

"Oh, you're the person who knocked out Zoë," he said with a smile, "she had some interesting things to say when she woke up,she's very creative with her insults, well done. I suppose as a medic I shouldn't be encouraging you to hurt people."

"Thanks?" I said out of confusion, "anyway, am I partnered with you, or are you being relieved as well?"

"Oh, I'm going whenever Butch gets here, ah, there he is," Butch was walking up the hill in his armour with a spear strapped to his back. Unlike most campers he had chosen to forgo the lighter reinforced leather armour for the heavier bronze armour. His reasoning being that his bulk meant that he was already slow on the battlefield, so he may as well be protected, "anyway, I should go get some food, you have fun now," he walked down the hill, stopping briefly to talk to Butch on the way down.

"Good evening," Butch said when he reached the top, Butch is a big scary guy, until you realise, that he is a big softy, unless you try and hurt Alice, or any of his friends then he is a big scary guy again.

"Good evening to you too Butch," I said smiling at him.

"I hear you're off on a quest tomorrow, good luck," he said, he was not looking at me, instead he was scanning the horizon.

"Thank you, I doubt I'll need it, I'm hopefully not going to go anywhere too exciting, just London, most monsters in London are made by man, well, except Spring Heeled Jack, but he's been quiet lately."

Butch grunted, "just know that if you die and break my sister's heart, I will break you."

"Lovely, I probably won't care at that point," I said, "what with me being dead, and all, it might even bring some excitement."

"So, what exactly is going on? I heard bits and pieces from Michael, but nothing beyond the people going on the quest, well, and the prophecy, no-one stops talking about the prophecy."

"All I know is that there is a group of three Hunters and two Campers heading west to find Artemis, whilst I have to travel east to find some ancient knowledge of some kind, I think it's about the bane of Olympus in the prophecy, I know a couple of people who may be able to help, hopefully my first guess is correct, but if not, I'll have a lot of questions to ask."

"Hmm, sounds like you're being more Sherlock than Gandalf," Butch said, "do you have any ideas about what the monster is?"

"Well, my first thoughts were giant sea monsters, like Typhoon, but Chiron said that if they were stirring we would know by now, then I thought about it from a tactical standpoint, so, it may be an unbeatable tactician, like Caesar, or something that can unbind other monsters and Titans, but still no ideas."

"What about a ritual monster? I don't know much about magic, but I do know that some things can have huge power if put in a potion or used in sacrifices, like Demigod blood. Alice mentioned it once, really bad magic uses it to boost their magic right?"

"Maybe, but I think that Luke might not know much about Avalonian magic, but there is that witch with the purple hair, Tala, she would probably know about things like that."

"Sounds like you have your work cut out for you," Butch said, "I would offer to help, but, you know, I'm no wizard, I'm just a big guy with a big spear."

"Hey, Butch, that's not true, you're great with horses, and pegasuses, and you can draw like no-one else, well, except maybe Alice, you're really good with that spear, and you're a nice guy, you're more than just a big guy." We passed the night with small talk, we were supposed to be relieved at about three o'clock, but with so many campers injured, and the need for constant vigilance on the Fleece. So, Butch and I had drawn a long shift, I was still full of energy though when relief came at five o'clock, I blame my ADHD getting excited for the upcoming quest. I was walking down the hill, trying to decide what to do with my time before leaving in a couple of hours, I had a bag packed and ready, I did not need to prepare a pegasus and there was no point trying to get some sleep. I was at a loss when I saw a black pegasus take off from in front of the cabins, there was someone on its back, I sprinted back to the Hermes cabin, grabbed my broom and took off after it.

The pegasus flew out over the bay, with me in pursuit, I was not sure why I was following, but it was a little excitement after guard duty. The pegasus suddenly stopped and the figure tumbled off its back into the ocean, it was probably Percy, he was the only person to decide that five o'clock in the morning in the middle of winter was a good time for a swim. I lowered down and started hovering near to the water, and waited for him to resurface, the pegasus circled above the spot where Percy dropped in.

Almost an half an hour later, Percy resurfaced and shot straight from the water onto the pegasus' back, "hi Janet, what are you doing out here? In full armour?"

"Well, I was walking down the hill from guard duty when I see a figure on a pegasus take off from near the cabins, so not knowing who it was, I decided to follow, to find out, then I see you drop into the ocean, so I decided to stay here so you could explain why you are in the middle of the ocean."

"Well, you see, I was asleep, when Blackjack knocked on my door, by knocked, I mean almost kicked it down," Blackjack nickered. "Turns out there was a sea creature caught in an old fishing net, so I went to rescue it, turned out to be this weird, half cow, half eel creature, I have no clue what it is, but I called it Bessie." I was about to say how ridiculous it all sounded, when I heard a cow mooing. I looked down to see a creature with the front half of a calf, but the back half an eel, it looked familiar, like I had seen it somewhere, but then forgotten about it, it was on the tip of my tongue, all I could remember was that it was important in some way. "Ah, there you are Bessie, Bessie, meet Janet, Janet, this is Bessie."

"It's so cute," I said as I floated down to stroke its head, it was wet, but the fur was soft, and Bessie had such large brown eyes, I almost wanted one as a pet, except for that nagging feeling I should know what she was.

"We should go back, before anyone notices we're gone," Percy said, I was unwilling to leave Bessie unprotected, but I did not want to get in Chiron's bad books, he might start singing along to his favourite songs.


	24. Chapter 24

We flew back to camp in silence, "look," Percy said pointing at something, I looked down, Nico was hiding behind a column ear the dining pavilion, Percy and his pegasus landed behind Nico, far enough away not to attract attention, I landed next to him, the pegasus took off again, I just cast a notice me not charm on my broom. We snuck up on Nico, halfway there, Percy pulled on a cap, I recognised it as Annabeth's invisibility cap, he vanished. We snuck up on Nico, I was about to ask what he was doing when I heard voice, two of them, girls, they seemed to be angry about something, it was Bianca and Zoë.

"It cannot be cured, not quickly at least," Zoë said, her words accompanied by a fist banging on a table.

"But how did it happen?" Bianca asked, she sounded less angry, more anxious than anything else.

"A foolish prank," Zoë growled, "those Stoll boys from the Hermes cabin, Centaur blood is like acid, everyone knows that, they sprayed the inside of that Artemis Hunting Tour T-shirt with it." Zoë and Phoebe have evidently never heard the old adage about Greeks and gifts.

"That's terrible!" Bianca gasped.

"She will live," Zoë said, she was less angry now, more, dejected, "but she'll be bedridden for weeks with horrible hives. There is no way she can go, it's up to me and thee," I had to restrain myself from correcting her.

"But the prophecy!" Bianca said, "if Phoebe can't go, we only have four, we'll have to pick another."

"There is no time," Zoë said sadly, "we must leave at first light, that's immediately, besides, the prophecy said we would lose one."

"In the land without rain, but that can't be here," Bianca interjected.

"It might be," Zoë said quietly, but she did not sound convinced, "the camp has magical borders, nothing, not even the weather, is allowed in without permission, it could be a land without rain."

"But -" Bianca tried to object.

"Bianca, hear me," Zoë's voice was strained, but with what emotion, I could not tell, "I... I can't explain, but I have a sense that we should not pick someone else. It would be too dangerous, they would meet an end worse than Phoebe's, I don't want Chiron choosing a Camper as our fifth companion, and I... I don't want to risk another Hunter." This boiled down to the vengeful Stolls injuring someone going on quest to save the world. The ever stubborn Zoë, in her egoness refused to ask for help, because she knows that Chiron will choose Percy as her companion, and Zoë's hatred of everything male would not allow that. I would have to get Percy to follow them, they would need him, but to be honest, Percy would do that anyway just to try and save Annabeth.

There was silence for a minute before Bianca spoke, "you should tell Thalia the rest of your dream."

"No!" Zoë snapped, "it would not help."

"But if your suspicions about are correct about the General -"

"I have thy word not to talk about that," Zoë interrupted, she sighed, "we will find out soon enough. Now come, dawn is breaking," they turned in our direction, I quickly moved so they would not see me if they came our way, they sprinted down the steps, Zoë stopped halfway down.

"The lights of the Big House are on, hurry," Bianca said, they ran off together.

When they were out of earshot, I put my hand on Nico's shoulder, he jumped, "that's interesting," I said smiling at him.

"How long were you there?" Nico asked.

"Oh, since they were talking about curing Centaur blood," I said, "you're not very perceptive Nico, you should work on that." I reached out and found Percy's mind, he was standing next me, I pulled the hat off his head, Nico gasped as Percy came into view.

"Invisibility," Nico said in awe, a big smile on his face, "can you turn invisible?" He asked me.

"No, not really, I can make it harder to see me, and I have a friend with an invisibility cloak, but I can't turn fully invisible, but that's besides the point. So, Nico, why are you here?"

"I heard them walk by the Hermes cabin. I don't... I don't sleep too well at Camp, so I heard footsteps, and whispering, so I sort of followed."

"Let me guess," I said, "you are now thinking off following them on their quest."

He gasped, "how did you know that?"

"I don't need to be a mind reader to know you care for your sister, and want to keep her safe, and you think you can do that by following their quest."

"You can read minds? What am I thinking right now?" Nico asked excitedly.

"Focus Nico, legilimency is not for simple party tricks, what I'm trying to say, is that you can't go on the quest."

"Why? Because I'm too young?"

"It's not about age, it's about training, and you have had next to none, you will get caught and sent back, or worse yet, remember the Manticore? Do you honestly think you could beat him in a fight? The Manticore is not actually that powerful, relatively, he's weaker than a Minotaur, and stronger than a young Cyclops. If you cannot beat him, think about facing a den of Cyclopes that you stumble upon, or a pack of fully grown Hellhounds the size of buses, or a fully trained demigod turned rogue, because those are all obstacles you will have to face, just think about that."

Nico had paled, "I... I suppose you're right, I won't go on the quest, but surely Percy can," Percy let out a startled sound, "I mean Percy has the invisibility hat, he could sneak around them." He turned to Percy, Nico looked wide eyed, and pathetic, "please Percy, go with them and look after my sister, they need a fifth member after all, and you were planning to go anyway, weren't you?"

"Yes, I have to find Annabeth, I have to help, even if they don't want me to," Percy admitted.

"I won't tell on you, but you have to promise to keep my sister safe," Nico pleaded.

"I..." Percy swallowed, "that's a big thing to ask, Nico, on a trip like this..." he swallowed again, "besides, she's got Zoë, Grover and Thalia-"

"Promise," Nico insisted.

"I'll do my best, I promise," Percy said finally.

"Get going then," Nico said, "good luck."

"Tell Chiron-" Percy started before stopping to think.

"I'll make something up," Nico smiled a crooked smile, "I'm good at that, go on!" Percy put on the cap and vanished from sight, when I guessed him to be out of earshot I turned to Nico.

"Nico, if it is Bianca's time to go, Percy won't be able to save her, especially if she's one of the two who were prophesied to die," Nico chewed on his bottom lip.

"Yeah, I know, but I can hope," he turned and walked off in the direction of the woods.

* * *

I sighed, and walked over to the Hermes cabin, I grabbed a change of clothes, and went to the shower-block, I had been wearing armour for several hours now, so I probably didn't smell delightful. Ten minutes later I re-emerged, now smelling less like a sweaty suit of armour. All around me, the early risers were waking up, lights were going on in the cabins, Dryads and Satyrs were walking about, going about their daily lives. Mr D, who only slept out of boredom, was sitting at his poker table on the porch of the Big House. I walked into the Hermes cabin, some of the beds were empty, but their owners had left to go get changed, eat breakfast or to shower, I grabbed my bracelets, and a small demigod travel bag from under my bed. I checked over the contents, two changes of clothes, a dagger, monies (Drachma, Sterling, Dollars, Galleons, and emergency Euros, just in case), a flask of nectar, and a packet of ambrosia. Careful, so as not to wake anyone up I left the cabin, and left for the Big House.

"Good morning Mr D," I said as I passed him on my way to the floo.

"Shouldn't you have left by now?" He asked grumpily, I sighed, and entered the rec-room, I found the loose stone, which Chiron used to protect the floo dust from damage (table-tennis balls, knocks, arrows, you know, everyday damage at Camp), and removed a pinch of the dust.

"New York Floo Terminal," I said before throwing the dust at the hearth, I felt a sudden tugging sensation on the crown of my head as I was pulled through the floo network, Long Island to JFK airport in about five seconds.

As it may have been mentioned in the past, New York's international floo network terminal is disguised as a broom cupboard, when you get past the disguise, usually by flooing in, you are greeted by a massive room, about a quarter the size of King's Cross' train terminal, the room is full of booths containing floo tubes (which act like chimneys, but do not look like chimneys), each row of floo tubes head to a different major wizarding city, from big capitals like Tokyo, London and Berlin, to obscure little towns which are only known to wizards, like Karakarin, Roarhaven, Little Bendon, and Boxgrove. I bought my ticket at the turnstile, and joined the flow of wizards, witches, adepts, alchemists, potioneers, umbramancers, elementals, and even a couple of other demigods. I could tell from the crowd which kind of magic each magician specialised in, umbramancers were dressed in black robes, elementals were in slightly charred clothes, potioneers and alchemists smelt like their ingredients, psychics were dressed in extravagant robes. I even saw a chromamancer in his bright clothing step out of the floo tube that was connected to Tibet. I walked to the rows connected to Europe, but was greeted by a man standing in front of some red tape.

"Sorry, but the entire European floo network is down, some idiot broke the main terminal in Thuringia," the man said, he was a tall man, but otherwise quiet nondescript, he had short brown hair and soft brown eyes, he was dressed in the blue and green overalls of the floo network, "and the Bosporus floo line is down for maintenance, a ship hit the Gibraltar line and the Russian government shut the Moscow route to Vilnius, in other words, Europe is stuck until the terminal is fixed," I panicked, with the floo network shut I would probably have to take the floo to Newfoundland, then fly onwards to Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, and then down through Scotland, which would take days.

"How long will it take to fix?" I asked, my nervousness sounding in my voice.

"Three weeks, but the emergency lines from the capital cities to Fez should be online in seven days time, as long as nothing goes wrong with the African hub in Djenne, otherwise you'll have to wait."

"What's the closest one to the UK that's working?" I asked, the closer I got the less distance I'd have to fly.

"The Ceuta floo is working, if you are willing to fly, that would only take three days to fly, if you stop over in Catalonia and Burgundy ."

I bit my lip nervously as I thought about the possible problems with the Ceuta route, it would require a crossing, albeit a short crossing, of the original sea of monsters, which is never a good idea. But, the alternative was flying from either Newfoundland, Greenland or Iceland, which ever one was working, which would mean that I would have to navigate in freezing temperatures, I made my choice. "Which way to the Ceuta tube?" I asked.

"Over in the African area, third row from this end, fourth one along," he said pointing in a direction, "if you need to leave to get a broom, your ticket will still be valid," he then turned, and walked over to a lady who was trying to duck under the red tape.

I sighed, 'this is not how I imagined my quest going,' I left the terminal, and returned via the floo to the Big House. Thankfully, I managed to get my broom, and some more travelling supplies from the Hermes cabin without having to answer any awkward questions, like why I was at camp rather than in Europe. So, twenty minutes later I found myself trying to find the Ceuta floo tube, which was not where he pointed me, it turned out to be in the Middle East area, for some reason.

I stepped into the booth and inserted my ticket into the little slot on the wall, there was a flash of floo powder and I found myself in a room that was much quieter and slightly warmer than the room I had just left. I opened the door to the booth, which was on my left now, rather than behind me, outside was a smaller version of the terminal in New York, unlike New York. Ceuta has only a small magical population, and few magicians live in the surrounding area, so it only needed a small terminal. There was the same hustle and bustle, but everything seemed slower, as if the magicians were not really in as much of a hurry. There was also a different mix to the crowd, there was less diversity in the types of magicians, it was mainly normal wizards, but the way they dressed was different. There were far more veiled women, more men adorned in Fezzes and Turbans, even one or two traditionally dressed nomad wise ones. I slowly made my way through the crowd, carrying my broom with me, I noticed that the European floo tubes were cordoned off here as well.


	25. Chapter 25

I emerged to bright sunlight that made me blink and shield my eyes, as I adjusted, I looked around me, I was on a vegetation covered hill, the plants were mainly short, scraggy, thorny little things, designed to survive the hot dry summers, but around them other plants had started to grow, seasonal plants with broad leaves and buds for flowers. Beneath me the city of Ceuta sprawled, basking in the summer sun, surrounded on two sides by water, probably three, I could not see the other end of the peninsula, but I assumed there was sea beyond it, it being a peninsula and all.

I hopped onto my broom, and took off, heading north, my broom is slightly different to most other brooms, it had started out as a normal broom. But, I had redesigned the spells that made it work, so it was a lot faster than normal, 'if it works as well as it should, I should reach Madrid by nightfall, if I do not get lost.'

Spain is probably a very interesting and beautiful place to visit, but it is not exactly the most interesting sight to fly over, it was mainly just rolling fields, broken up by the occasional woodland, mountain or small urban area, it was rather difficult to tell where I was, I had managed to make the short crossing over the Straits of Gibraltar without any interference, and continued my way north, I began to get nervous as I watched the sun go down, I was still in Spain, but I was getting tired and hungry, I would have to land soon, the only question was where.

My decision was made for me when I saw a large glittering city appear on the horizon, relieved, I landed in a small thicket of trees, and hid my broom, I left a tracking charm and a muggle repelling charm to try and prevent a curious muggle from using it by mistake.

The city was rather beautiful, especially in the moonlight, it was built on several hills, with a river cutting through the middle of the city, as I walked in through the west side of the city I passed ancient buildings, I passed a sign calling the city Salamanca, I eventually found a hotel advertising vacancies. The hotel was a small, neat little building down a side street, now rather hungry, and very tired, I walked inside.

The foyer to the hotel was a smallish room, just a desk with a lamp on it, and pigeon holes, "¿Puedo ayudarle?" A voice asked in a musical Spanish accent, I turned to see an old lady, she was short, about the same height as me. Her eyes hidden behind thick glasses, and her white hair pulled up in a bun, she was wearing a black dress that trailed along the ground, and had a white shawl over her shoulders, she smiling at me cheerfully. "English?" She asked, I nodded, "can I help you?"

"Oh, I'm looking for a room for the night," she looked me up and down, "I'm travelling, I'm going back to England, and missed my train, now the next train won't leave until morning."

"So, you are, err, now in Salamanca for the night, and need, err, a place to sleep?" She said smiling, "well, I have rooms, come, I will find you one to your, err, liking," she hobbled around the counter, she picked a key out of a pigeon-hole. "Follow me," she led me out the back of the reception area, and up two flights of stairs, she stopped outside room 304, "this room," she handed me the key. "My husband is making food in the restaurant, it is across the street, my grandsons are helping him, he is a very good cook," she turned and hobbled down the stairs.

I unlocked the room and walked in, the room was quite small, with white wallpaper and a red tiled floor, the bed took up most of the room, it was a single bed, wedged in the corner under a window, at the foot was a wardrobe, there was a door to the left of the door I entered through, which led to a small bathroom. I put my bag in the wardrobe, and set about warding the room against intruders, I then took some Euros from my bag and left the room.

The restaurant across the street was half full by the time I got there, I walked past lots of people talking in Spanish, which is usually a good sign, if local people go somewhere to eat, then the food is usually good. Bustling through the crowd of tables were three boys dressed in aprons,they must have been the hotelier's grandsons, the youngest looked to be the same age as me, the oldest was in his early twenties. I sat down at an empty table, and the youngest walked over, he hand me a menu, "buenas noches y bienvenidos, ¿puedo obtener algo de beber?" He asked smiling at me. He was tall, and handsome, with sharp features, short black hair, and sparkling brown eyes.

"Um, do you speak English?" I felt really awkward, having to ask someone to speak in a different language.

He sighed dramatically, "but of course, can I, err, get you a drink," he smiled at me again.

"Just a glass of orange juice please," he nodded and walked off, I looked at the menu, which was thankfully in English as well as Spanish. When he came back with my orange juice, I ordered a seafood paella, all through my meal, the waiter kept coming over to talk to me, I was unsure if he was being polite or if he was flirting with me. It was still kind of early, and I had to plan my route for the next day, so I walked around the city, and eventually stumble across a shop selling, amongst other things, maps and compasses, so I bought an atlas, and a compass, I then returned to my room.

I spent the next couple of hours planning my route, I worked out I could reach the city of Bordeaux by lunchtime on my next day of flying, and London by nightfall, if I flew at top speed. With a serviceable plan I went to bed.

* * *

The next morning I was woken by a knocking on the door, "señorita, I must speak with you," it was the voice of the old lady, she sounded scared, I quickly disabled my wards and walked over to the door. "Oh, thank the good lord, I was scared he had taken you."

"Who?"

"The, err, Wolfman, he has been walking the city, looking for you, come, we must get you to safety."

"Slow down, who is the Wolfman?"

"The Wolfman, he is an ancient monster, he turns into a wolf under the light of the moon, but he is just as dangerous under the light of the sun, he is stronger and faster than any man. He has walked these hills since before even the err, Italians, no, the err, Romans, since the Romans got here."

"Oh great, a Werewolf," I muttered, "give me a minute," I re-entered the room, I quickly changed into clean clothes and grabbed my bag, map, and compass. I then left the room, "right then, so how do I deal with this Wolfman?"

The old woman frowned over her glasses, "you cannot, even when he is dead, he comes back, but silver hurts him, and he is scared of fire."

'Oh, so, he is a Werewolf then,' I sighed, 'great.'

I walked down the stairs, there was an old man in a wide brimmed black hat standing in the foyer, he must have been her husband. "I have done everything I can to confuse him señorita, but he will find you here eventually, you must leave, he has no friends with him as far as I can tell."

"Thank you," I said, handing them some money, "I hope this is enough to cover the cost of my room," the old man took the money, and tipped his hat.

"Good luck, and may the Lord be with you."

"Thank you," I said again, I left the old couple in their hotel, I quickly walked through the streets of Salamanca, retracing my journey from the previous night, I bought a sandwich from a shop I passed, and ate it as I left the ancient city.

I was nearly back to the thicket where I hid my broom when I heard a howl, which echoed around the countryside, I cursed and ran for the thicket, I heard the pounding of feet behind me, and suddenly I was on the ground, with a heavy weight on my back.

"I got you now," a voice growled in my ear, I felt his breath pass by my face, and cringed at the smell of putrid rotting flesh that it carried. "It has been many years since a Demigod has come to Iberia that I could feast upon, and now, here you are, and I'm so hungry. That Duende used his magic to hide you from me, but now you are away from him, and all mine. I will be well rewarded for bringing the General your head, he might even move me to richer hunting grounds. Let's have a look at you," the weight lifted from my back, and I felt myself being lifted by a massive hand on my right shoulder. The Wolfman was really tall, at least seven feet tall, he was dressed in ragged clothing, which was nicked and cut in several places, with fur protruding from the holes. His face was very doglike, his jaw and nose had protruded into something that looked like a snout, and he was covered in fur, his entire face was hairy, as was every visible part of his visible body, his fingernails had grown into sharp yellow claws. "Pretty little thing, aren't you," I cringed at the puff of putrid air that came with every word, I could see every single one of his teeth, all filed to a point, "too bad I'm going to eat you."

I winced as he squeezed my shoulder, "no, you're not," he cocked his head, I sent a blast of fire into his face, he staggered backwards, yapping in pain as his hair set on fire, he put the fires out by pushing his head into the ground.

"I'm going to kill you slowly for that little witchy girl," he ran towards me on all fours.

" **Protego** ," he ran at full pelt straight into my magic barrier, he rebounded off of it, blood running from his broken nose, he growled again.

"I will destroy you," I sighed and pulled off my bracelet.

"Make it fast," I pressed the eye of the snake on my bracelet, transforming it into a sword, "I'm on a schedule," the Wolfman howled and swiped at me, I swung my sword, and took his right hand off at the wrist, my sword went through him with no resistance, he screeched and clutch at his stump, which was oozing a black liquid which looked like warm molasses, and turned to smoke when it touched the ground.

"How dare you come to my country, and attack me with your silver sword, I just want to eat, I'm hungry."

"Hey, you attacked me, if you want meat, talk to a butcher," he kicked at my feet, taking them out from under me, my sword was knocked from my grasp, and spun away into the grass.

"You will taste nice witch," he lunged at me, I rolled to the side and got to my feet, I was now unarmed, and facing down a one handed Wolfman, "what will you do without your sword witchy girl?" I dropped into a duelling stance, however, my wand was still in my pack, which was on my back, the Wolfman laughed at me as he circled me. "You are wandless witch, you are mine," he lunged at me, I stepped out the way, and brought my elbow down on the back of his head. He tumbled to the ground, but rolled as he landed and in one fluid motion, was back on his feet. He swiped at me with his remaining hand, I set fire to him again, he howled in pain, but continued to swipe, barely missing me as I scrambled out the way. He was forcing me further and further from my sword, "I have fought hundreds of demigods and thousands of huntsmen and swordsmen over the years, few have ever bested me, and none of them are still alive."

"Well, one of them is," I said.

"Who?" He asked, he sounded panicked.

"Me," he cocked his head and opened his mouth to laugh, " **accio sword** ," my sword shot out of the grass and flew towards me, and impaled the Wolfman from behind.

"Oh my," he said as he looked numbly at the sword protruding from his chest, the wound slowly leaking the black liquid, "you have bested me, now I return to the pit." He stiffened, the colour draining from him, not like just his face turned pale, his hair, his eyes, his clothes, everything bleached grey, he tumbled backwards and shattered into a grey powder.

I retrieved my blade from the mound of powder that had been my adversary, returning it to a bracelet I replaced it on my wrist. Within five minutes I was flying my broom towards the Pyrenees mountains on the border with France.


	26. Chapter 26

When midday set in, I was on course to arrive at Bordeaux within minutes, I had the glittering Atlantic ocean to my left and the rolling hills, vineyards, woods and farmland of France to my right, I would have slow down to take in the view if it were not for the looming end of the world.

I landed in a deserted stretch of woodland just outside Bordeaux, and walked the short distance into the city, and soon found a restaurant by the to eat lunch at, the waiter looked a bit surprised when I sat down by myself.

"Pardon madame, mais, err, est-ce seulement tu pour le déjener?" The waiter asked, he was a slightly overweight cheerful fellow in his mid thirties, with thick brown hair and blue eye.

"Oui, je voyage sur le train, err, en Angleterre, j'ai visité mon famille en Espagne."

"Ah, English," he said happily, "we have few English in the winter, the rain, err, repulses them home," he said as he handed me a menu and set the cutlery on the table. "Vous parlez bien français, Mieux que la plupart des gens anglais" he gave me friendly smile as he said it.

"J'ai etudié l'accueil, mon pére a instruiu moi en français aussi, en hébreu, grec ancien, latin et japonais. Aussi, j'ai lu beaucoup de livre dans français."

"Impressionnant, que voulez-vous boire?"

"Oh, err, une verre de grenadine, si vous plait."

"Que voudriez-vous manger?"

"Err, moules avec frites si vous plait."

"Je retrouverai que pour vous," he left me, and walked into the kitchen, he returned with a glass of red grenadine syrup mixed with water, he left me sipping my drink.

After a hearty lunch of moules frites (mussels with chips), I left the restaurant and returned to where I left my broom.

"Good afternoon," a heavily accented voice croaked behind me, I spun around to see a deformed man, he was covered in growths, warts and pus filled spots. His eyes were different colours, one green eye, which was higher than his one brown eye, his nose was crooked, and he was missing an ear. He was shorter than me, and his body was twisted, and crippled. He wore what looked like it was once fine clothing from the medieval era, but it was now torn and filthy, "pretty young maidens should not travel by themselves, you never know what kind of monsters you will meet."

"I thank you for your concern sir, but I can care for myself," I said slowly, trying to not stare at the ugly little man.

"Oh, I'm sure you can," he croaked, he sounded like he was being sarcastic, "magicians always think they can." He struck quickly, faster than I could see, he backhanded me in the chest with his right hand, I flew backwards and landed on the floor gasping as the air was driven from my lungs, "it is not sir, it's Prince, Prince Furibon, and I will kill you."

I threw a fireball at him, but it dissipated across his skin, "why is everything fireproof?"

"Ha, foolish halfling, your magic won't help you now," he had a rapier in hand now, "I am immune to your magic." I pulled at the earth to hit him, but it refused to respond to my magic, "honguard." He swiped at me with the rapier, I jumped beyond his reach and activated both bracelets, I was now holding both sword and shield. "You cannot defeat me, I was trained by the finest blademasters of Europe," he jabbed at me. I blocked it with my shield, and stabbed at his chest with my sword, he brought up his own sword to parry, after a short exchange of blows he disarmed me, leaving me with just a shield. "Surrender and I will kill you quickly," he said as he thrust at my shield.

"Never," I said, I was scared, my hands getting sweaty on the shield's handle, " **accio sword** ," my sword flew out of the grass towards me, Furibon sidestepped it and grabbed the handle, he screamed when he came into contact with ensorcelled silver, he dropped both swords and grasped his hand, the skin had gone red on the palm of his hand where it had come into contact with the metal, "what is this sword?"

" **Accio sword** ," I was now armed with my sword again, "leave me alone and I won't kill you," Furibon laughed a bitter laugh.

"I have heard that before, and I killed everyone who said it, every single one," he said as he picked up his rapier in his uninjured hand.

"Not quite everyone," a voice said clearly.

Furibon went purple with rage, "show yourself usurper!" Furibon shouted into the farmyard.

"Why should I old friend?" The voice replied.

"I am not your old friend, I hate you, I have always hated you," Furibon screamed at a tree, a figure appeared in front of me. He was facing Furibon, but I could tell he was a tall, strong man with flowing blond hair that ended at his shoulders, he was holding a hat with two peacock in a band that ran around the hat. He was dressed in fine, if outdated clothing comprised of a white doublet, white tunic, white hose, and spotless white leather shoes. He was holding a white handled rapier, similar to Furibon's.

"Long time no see Furibon," he said happily, causing Furibon to turn to face the new comer.

"I will tear you to shreds Léandre," Furibon launched himself at the new comer, they exchanged bouts in a lightning fast battle of swords.

"You never change, do you Petit Prince?" Léandre said unhappily in a break in the action.

"Nor do you Prince des Lutins," Furibon grumbled before launching himself back into the fight, they were evenly matched, neither was going to win until the other became too exhausted to continue, or made a mistake. I left them too it and ran to my broom, which was where I left it, in a clearing, I mounted my broom and flew for London.

It was nightfall by the time I made it to London, I pulled the mist around myself, so I looked like a small aeroplane, and prepared to land at the broom landing place near London City airport. I neared the runway when I heard a squawk, I looked to my left, there was a whole flock of crows flying straight at me. I cursed and took evasive manoeuvres, the crows passed within metres, I looked closely at them as they passed, they were missing feathers, and some were missing bits of flesh. They were Gore Crows, a favourite of necromancers, weak spirits only dangerous in packs, just about any counter necromancy spell would work, the problem was that there were dozens of them, a full pack.

" **Vos inanimata** ," the crow that I hit exploded into a puff of feathers, as did the next one, but the crows were spreading out now, making it harder, and harder to dodge their attacks.

" **Ceteris omnibus** ," a voice shouted, all around me the Gore Crows exploded, I looked for my saviour, she was a tall woman in black and flying goggles, she put her wand to her throat, "land, now," she said in a magically amplified voice.

We landed at the airport, the lady ushered me into a small building, just off the edge of the runway, she sat me down at the table that was inside and conjured a small light, "what were you thinking?" She shouted at me.

"Um, to try and land at Luton airport," I said, I was rather confused as to whether or not she was implying I let myself get attacked by Gore Crows.

"The amount of work we will have to do to cover this up, let's not even get into the fact you were using magic outside of school," I decided she was an Auror.

"In self defence," I reminded her, "shouldn't you be looking for the necromancer who released a flock of Gore Crows into the British Isles over London."

"Oh, I will be, as soon as I sort you out," she said, she sounded less angry now.

"The Mist should sort it out," I said shrugging.

"The Mist does not work for witches," she said getting angrier.

"It does if you know how to use it," I said, "and I know how to use it."

"Hmm, prove it," she said after a pause.

I sighed, "you're a witch, it doesn't work as well with witches, but, I will try," I clicked my fingers and willed the mist to make the wall behind me to turn blue, the Auror let out a small gasp before regaining her composure

"Very well, you haven't actually broken any laws, seeing as Mist manipulation is not considered magic, and flying brooms if legal if you are careful, which you have been. So, you're free to go, have a nice day."

"Good evening," I said before leaving the little building on the runway.

I was at the Leaky Cauldron within an hour. You have to love London, everyone is either too busy or too polite to question you, I walked through the streets carrying an old fashioned broom, and no-one cared, I greeted Tom the bartender and booked myself a room for the night.


	27. Chapter 27

Diagon Alley is far less busy during the winter than it is the day before school, the shops actually have room inside to move in, although the squibs are still lying in the gutters in the side streets. Coeus' shop was unchanged, except, he had repainted the outside to green, I entered Rhodes to Knowledge, a little bell tinkled above my head, Coeus' head appeared around the edge of a bookcase, he was wearing a top hat. He had redecorated inside his shop as well, the floor was now polished oak, the ceiling was a dome with a painting of a map of the world according to Pliny the Elder. The bookcases now ringed the edge of the circular room which was far larger than the shop front, there were more bookcases in circular clusters all around the room.

"Why, Janet, how good to see you, I was not expecting to see you until next September, what brings you this far off the beaten path? Oh, let me guess, is it one of my brothers' ridiculous plans?" I was about to talk when Coeus started talking again, "because all I ever hear about is Kronos this, and the General that," he suddenly stopped and stared intensely at me. "Ah, wait, I know why you're here, you want to know about the Bane of Olympus," he sighed, and sunk into an armchair that appeared behind him. "I don't know anything about it, but I used to. You see, after the war between the Gods and my siblings, I saw the destructive potential of this Bane of Olympus. I knew that after the war, my nephew may use it to squabble amongst themselves, destroying themselves, and everyone else in the progress. So I used a huge amount of magic, such a huge amount that I am still recovering to this day, to make every intact mind on the planet, including my own forget about the creature, and the spell also wiped it from written records. But, I cast the spell too late, Kronos had already been cast into the pit, and as mind magic cannot affect those with broken minds, particularly one as shattered as his was, he was left unaffected, which meant that he remembered what it was. The spell was extremely fragile, if the monster's name was mentioned to a person, they would be released from the spell."

"So, how do we find out what the creature was if the only people who know it will not tell us?"

Coeus smiled weakly, "I knew this might eventually happen. So, before I cast the spell I wrote the name, along with a description on a stone tablet, and along with a little statue, sealed them inside a jar that only I could open, then, so I would not be tempted to remind myself, I gave the jar to another. When opened, the jar will release its knowledge to the world, every Titan, God, Primordial Deity, monster, and everyone else who knew the name before I wiped it, will instantly know its name, and what it looks like, it will be returned to the written records I wiped it from."

"So, who has the jar?" I asked.

"Why, the God who hides the world's greatest secrets of course, Cupid," Coeus said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So, where is Cupid?" I asked nervously, I did not have time to go looking for him.

"Last I heard, he was running a dating website, but I think he also has an aspect living in Paris, I'll call him," he took off his top hat and pushed his whole arm inside, "no, no, no, cat, no, fez, no, ah, here we go," he pulled out an old fashioned rotary phone with a separate earpiece, and a speaker above the dial. He dialled a five digit number, "hi, yes, this is Coeus, can I speak to Cupid please, it's important, no, tell him it's about my jar," he listened to the earpiece for a minute. "I don't care if he's in a meeting!" he shouted into the speaker, "I need to speak to him now! Bad? Yes! Very bad! End of the world bad! Thank you," he said sweetly.

He stood there for a few seconds tapping his foot, when suddenly a voice range through the room, it sounded from every direction, I could not make out anything about the voice, tone, accent, inflections, emotions, it was not a monotone, I just could not register anything except the words, "Coeus, why do you need to talk about your jar, I hid it somewhere very safe if that's what you are wondering."

"Cupid, I need my jar back, my brother is back and he's telling his followers about the secret I hid in it, if we don't find the secret we're all doomed."

"Hmm, meet me in Paris in ten minutes, the usual place, and bring whichever demigod who got stuck on the quest for the jar," the voice ended, and a dial tone rang through the room, Coeus hung up the earpiece on the phone, ending the dial tone, and returned it to his hat.

"Well, you heard the man, to Paris," he put his hand on my shoulder, "close your eyes, and hold your breath," I did as I was told, there was a flash of light that I could see through my eyelids.

* * *

There was a sudden flash of heat and then a flash of a sudden cold, like going from the heat of summer into a bucket of ice, and we were suddenly somewhere else. Somewhere that had a cool slight breeze, it was cooler than the shop, closer to the outside temperature, "breath," Coeus said, I took a breath, and wished I had not, the new place stank of rubbish and urine. "Welcome to Paris, not far now," I opened my eyes, we were in an alleyway, it looked like every other alleyway I had ever ended up in (which is a weirdly high number now that I think about it, my life is not exactly normal). "Cupid and I love Paris, he loves the romance, I love everything, the history, the architecture, the science, the geography, one of the great European centres of learning. Paris was always competing with London for the greatest discoveries, and the most discoveries, always arguing over the best history books, largest libraries, deepest thinking philosophers, truly a great city of learning." We exited the alley, and found ourselves walking down the banks of the Seine river, rolling by as grey as a rock. "Of course, Cupid goes for the bridges, the river, the palaces, the scenic walks, the art galleries, even the little cafes, which are at the corner of almost every major junction, anywhere where a date could be held, or regularly is held, he is drawn like a bee to nectar, aah here we are."

He stopped at the end of a bridge, it was a pedestrian bridge with seven arches, the sides were made of a wire mesh, which was covered in padlocks, there were pedestrians milling about, mainly in pairs, 'this must be one of the romantic places Cupid loves.' At the other end of the bridge was a huge stone palace, which had a glass pyramid outside, "the Louvre," I said, I had never seen the palace turned gallery outside of pictures before. Annabeth was going to be so jealous, she loves the Louvre, called it one of the finest examples of pre-Revolution French architecture.

"Yep, once the halls of that building held the court of the kings of France, where the decisions that meant life and death to thousands is now a palace to their artwork and the wonders of tourism. I almost miss the old fogies, they were as crazy as a box of rabbits on mercury, but they knew how to patron science, and the arts," he sighed. "But, times change," he sounded sad, "and a series of bad kings and even worse decisions sealed their fates."

"Focus," I complained, "where are we meeting Cupid?" I asked quietly, so as not to draw attention.

"Right here," a voice behind us said, I turned, there was a man standing behind us, well, I think there was, all I knew was that their was a patch of haze that I could not look at. Every time I tried to focus, my eyes slid right off. "I apologise for how I appear, I do this to preserve others, for I am the God of the process of falling in love, of love itself, and of lust. When a mortal lays their eyes on me, they fall in love, that is why you hear my voice, but do not register how it sounds, and you see me, but not how I look. I hide to protect you."

"Dramatic as always Cupid, you really do play to type don't you?" Coeus said stepping forward, he held out a hand and shook part of the blur, probably a hand.

"Yes, I have your jar, so this is the Demigod who has the task of collecting it," I got the impression he was looking at me.

"Nice to meet you Mr Cupid, I'm Janet," I was unsure of whether or not I was meant to put my hand out for him to shake.

"We have already met, in Idaho," I cringed at the mention of my previous adventure, "you're just too stubborn to admit it," he sighed. "You will have to speak your feelings one day, your fears about being reject aren't likely to come true. But I am no guarantor, I follow my orders from Aphrodite, and from the Fates, I am not allowed to spoil their plans."

I sighed, "I am not here to talk about my love life Lord Cupid, I need the knowledge in Coeus' jar, so please can we have the jar."

"You might come back to this bridge in the future, bringing your own beloved," I sighed angrily.

'Gods sure love the sound of their own voice,' I thought, 'and Cupid seems to love talking about my love life.'

"These padlocks," the haze said as it moved to the mesh, "lovelocks they're called, each represents a story, and I read them like a book, the man on that lock." He pointed at one lock, I guessed this because the area of haze moved to sort of point, "married the lady on that lock," he pointed at another. "They married and have kids," he pointed at another, "most stories in these locks are still being told, some have ended, some happily, some sad, but each has its own lessons, each its own morals. Every lock on here holds the stories of two human lives, some locks hold the same stories as others, some hold one half of another story. Every story on the Pont des Arts has its beautiful moments, and its ugly ones, some have more beauty than ugly, and some are vice versa. It's one of the reasons I love Paris, there are so many stories of happy love, it's why I hid the jar here, no one would look in plain sight, no-one would look in my most beloved city. I suppose I should give you a riddle, seeing as if I just gave it too you it would be interference, but as time is of the essence, I will make it an easy one. It's at the foot of Our Lady of Paris, under the tree that is the focus of the Emperor of Aachen, I guarded it in a way no titan would ever think of," with that, the patch of haze vanished.

'Riddles, why is it always riddles?' I moaned to myself mentally as I tried to work out the meaning of Cupid's riddle, "maybe the Gods get so bored that they have to mess with us just to get some kicks." I started pacing, which probably drew a few glances before the passers-by decided to ignore. "Where even is Aachen? It sounds German, so I'm looking for a statue of a German emperor in Paris. This is ridiculous, who would put up a statue of a foreign emperor in Paris of all places." I stopped and composed myself, "okay Janet, think logically, this emperor would have to be post Roman, because there were no real pre-Roman empires in France and Germany, it was all tribes. The Roman Emperors never used Aachen as a capital, it was Rome and then, I think Milan and then somewhere in Croatia for the Western Roman Empire. So, it would be a post Roman emperor, um, I suppose Napoleon is the most obvious, but he ruled from Paris, then there's, er, Poland Lithuania, Russia, Germany, Spain, Britain," I stamped my foot in frustration. "None of these were ruled from Aachen what other Emperors were there? Oh, oh no, the Holy Roman Emperors, I don't know any of them, um, bother," I turn to Coeus, who was looking at me with a rather confused look on his face, "a little help would be appreciated."

"Janet, it's your quest, you must solve the riddles," he then sat down on a bench in the centre of the bridge, "although, just some friendly advice, if I was you I would look for Our Lady of Paris."

"Who is the lady of Paris? A patron saint, an Ancient Goddess, a Queen, or, oh," I facepalmed, "I'm an idiot, Notre Dame de Paris, the most famous cathedral in the city, and one of the most romantic spots in the city, where else would Cupid put it?" I looked around, on the horizon the spire of Notre Dame cathedral was visible on the island next to the bridge.

"Let's go then," Coeus said as he stood up from his seat on the bench.


	28. Chapter 28

The walk to Notre Dame was crowded with Parisians and tourists alike as everyone tried to get from one place to another, creating conflicting tides of humanity who were all going their own way, and getting in each other's whilst doing it. It took us about twenty five minutes to make the short walk to the cathedral.

"A glory of architecture," Coeus said, "the finest example of Gothic architecture in France, why, I remember talk to Maurice when he ordered it built. I told him, Maurice, I said, you should build it Gothic, Gothic architecture will be more impressive, he rubbished the idea, but Pope Alexander overruled him," Coeus smiled at some memory, then a loud bell in the tower tolled eleven times. "Emmanuel," Coeus exclaimed, startling some tourists, "it has been too long since I heard you ring."

"People are staring at you," I whispered.

Coeus blushed, "why? Is my fly open? Is there something in my teeth? Oh did I forget trousers again?"

"No, it's because you shouted at a bell," I said.

Coeus looked at me with a wrinkled brow, "why would they stare at me for that? I only was greeting an old friend," I facepalmed.

"And over here," I heard a voice say clearly through the crowd, "we have a statue of the ninth century Emperor Charlemagne, king of the Franks, and Italy. He was the first emperor west of the Danube to be declared as such by the Pope since the fall of the Roman empire, from his capital of Aachen, Charlemagne's empire stretched from the Pyrenees to the Danube basin and North to the Jutland in Denmark."

I spun around to see a tour guide talking to a group of tourists, all carrying cameras, or phones, taking pictures of just about everything. I walked over to the statue, it was looking straight ahead at an old oak trees in a small area of trees and grass, "Coeus, are we getting close?" I asked, I turned to see my great-grandfather listening to the tour guide.

When the group moved on, Coeus walked over shaking his head, "he makes Charlemagne sound like a great guy. You know, defending the Christians, converting the heathens, fighting off the hordes, when in reality, Charlemagne was a warmonger who wiped out entire religions. Nasty piece of work that one, one of Ares' lot I think, actually, I think he was one of Athena's, no, wait, now I remember, he was mortal, the Gods were over in Byzantium at that point. It's so hard to keep track of where everyone was at each point in time."

"That's lovely Coeus, but are we getting close yet? Can you feel anything?"

"Oh, right, we're on a quest, for a jar aren't we," I nodded. "Well," he closed his eyes and held out his hand, "yes, it is under that tree," he pointed at the tree Charlemagne was looking at, "so, we better get digging."

"That was all I needed to hear," a familiar voice said behind us, I turned around to see a familiar purple haired witch standing on the pavement behind us. "Good to see you again little girl," Tala said in that annoying accent I could not place (it was annoying because I could not place it, not because of how it sounded), "I will be taking that jar though."

"I don't think so," I said, I was nervous, I could hear it in my voice, I had already seen Tala take a huge amount of punishment with only scrapes and bruises.

Tala laughed, "who is going to stop me? You? The pacifist over there?" She pointed at Coeus, who was looking really angry.

"I am neutral, not a pacifist, well, I'm not really neutral anymore, I kind of like it here, and I don't want destroyed. So, bring it on," he rolled up his sleeves and raised his fist like an old fashioned boxer.

"Oh, please, don't make me laugh, you're a scholar, not a warrior," Tala said, "besides, someone has to save my hostages."

Coeus paled, "hostages?" He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Yes, my associates have set up Greek fire around Paris' national library, if you don't disarm it, all that knowledge will be lost forever," Coeus' dropped and he quickly ran out of the courtyard. "Now it is just you, and me little girl, I am going to get my revenge on the Gods, one demigod at a time."

"What are you?" I asked, stalling for time to think up a plan.

"I am a demon, I was once a powerful creature, feared by everything on the Earth, but one day, I was attacked by servants of some God or another. I never found out which, they stripped me of most of my power, and banished me to the Realm of Frost, they called it Hell, but they failed to finish off the banishment. So, I was stuck with most of my power in the Realm of Frost, but my consciousness was here, forced to inhabit the bodies of humans. So I became Tala, and walked the courts of the world, possessing body after body until I could find a mystic willing to release me, the religions of the world hunting me every step of the way. Twelve centuries later, I found one, his name was Rasputin, he was so close to freeing me, and then he was murdered, and I was left to wander once again. Then, two years ago Kronos' servants found me as my strength was failing and gave me a body, and promised me a mystic to release me, and it worked. But, alas, most of my power is lost to me forever, stored in some artefact or another which is beyond my grasp. Now I will destroy all the Gods, and all who follow them until I can find."

"You, you were the spirit that was being summoned in the forest, Drake was right, something did escape," I said as I remembered the events of a few months prior.

"Yes, not just any spirit, the exact spirit that was being summoned, the spell worked perfectly," she held up both hands and lit fireballs in them, "enough talk," she threw the fireballs at me, I deflected them into the Seine, where they exploded in a rush of steam. I retaliated with a spear of earth, which Tala caught and threw back, I dove out the way.

'She must have a weakness, but what is it?' I thought to myself as a fireball melted Charlemagne's soldier, 'all I know is that she's a demon of some kind, what are demons weak to?' A block of earth landed on Tala, it shattered almost instantly, Tala groggily got to her feet, but appeared uninjured. 'The Aurors will be here soon, I doubt they could fight Tala,' I dodged a teal coloured spell, 'I could just hit her with things until she stops getting up,' I froze for a split second as I thought about it, my moment of hesitation was enough for Tala to hit me with something, I collapsed in pain, which subsided almost instantly.

I checked myself as I raised a shield and got to my feet, there was not a mark on my clothing, it had been a spell, I pulled on the water of the Seine, pulling it out of its usual path, and threw it at Tala. She shot a blast of fire into the water, turning it into a steam cloud that hid us from each other, but I summoned a wind to clear it. I was now staring down Tala again, the courtyard was getting rather pockmarked from our fighting, Charlemagne was now a smouldering pile of molten metal. Tala had sustained an injury, there was a deep pit on her right shoulder, like an acid burn, it caused her right arm to hang limp, I dodged another fireball.

"Water," I said as I realised what it had to have been, "she's weak to water, hopefully." I pulled on the water of the Seine again, and threw it at Tala from every direction, she blasted it with fire. In the ensuing steam cloud I threw a whip of water straight at her as fast as I could, I felt the blow land, and excitedly pushed away the mist. Tala was still standing there, her hair wet, but otherwise intact, she had a faint red line across her face where the blow landed.

"Think again little girl," she threw a fireball at me, which I intercepted with the water whip.

There was a great booming knocking on the doors to the cathedral, we both stopped fighting to face the door, confusion on both of our faces, "who is it?" I asked unsure, I had at some point ended up with my back to the cathedral.

"Justice," a voice shouted inside, muffled by the door.

"Justice who?" Tala asked, she sounded as unsure as I felt.

There was a great booming sound as a great bolt was unlocked, the doors to the cathedral swung open, and a knight in full armour, broadsword in hand, strode out, "the Justice of the Lord."


	29. Chapter 29

"Um, Mr Knight, we're having a magic fight here," I said.

"Yes," Tala said, "I think that you're looking for the museum, it's just over there," she pointed off the island.

"I am the destroyer of demons, the bane of witches who besmirch the name of the Lord by their acts, I bring justice to the needy, convert the pagans, and defend Catholics in need. I am the Defender of the Faith."

"That's lovely Mr Defender, but there are no Catholics for you to defend here," I said, "I am Hellenic, and I have no clue what she is," I jerked my thumb at Tala.

"You worship the devil?" The Defender shouted, he swung his sword at me, I rolled out the way.

"Hellenic, Greek, not the devil," I shouted reaching for my bracelet, the Defender stopped his second swing.

"Oh, carry on, I'm only here for the demon," he turned to Tala, "now," he boomed, "I have been sent for by the Archbishop to deal with you," he raised his sword to rest the flat of the blade on his shoulder.

"You will cook very well tin man," Tala threw a fireball at the Defender, he made no move to dodge it or block it, instead he just stood in place and braced himself. I could not believe what I saw, the fireball dissipated as it came into contact with his armour, although, he was knocked backwards, and struggled to stop himself from falling over.

"Ha, your magic is no match for the Word of the Lord," he charged Tala with his sword raised to impale her chest. Tala threw up a shield, the sword passed through the barrier, Tala vanished and reappeared on the other side of the courtyard, "the Lord's Light is not impeded by the false safety of the Betrayer and his kin."

"Get over yourself, you sound like like a walking book of religious slogans," Tala shouted. She threw two fireballs at the knight, he dodged with more speed than I expected him to, with the burst of speed he almost reached Tala's neck with his sword.

"The Lord's Light travels faster than a horse, and with more force than an avalanche," Tala drove her fist into the front of his helmet, the knight was sent reeling.

"The Lord's Sword is not stopped by the false strength of the demon," he sounded like he had something in his mouth, probably blood, and his voice was more nasal, she had probably broken his nose. He swung his sword at her head, Tala vanished to the other side of the courtyard, "the demons of the cold pit flee before the Lord's Light."

'What should I do? Do I help him? Do I grab the pot and run? He is a religious fanatic, and the Church clearly says to kill witches. If he finds out I am a witch, surely he will turn on me, and his armour protects him from magic, and I cannot match swords with him, I could barely fight the deformed swordsman in France. This guy is faster, and stronger, and has magic armour and a magic sword of some kind and I will not have that fairy turn up this time.'

'You could kill him,' a thought came unbidden into my head, followed by a flood of unpleasant other thoughts, 'it would be easy, he is not looking, you could then take Tala by surprise, and leave with the pot,' I stomped on the thought.

'No, what would Alice think if I attacked someone like him, especially when he is helping us?' The thoughts resisted, but ultimately vanished.

"And thus the demon fled from the Lord's Justice in all its glory," the Defender shouted, I looked over, the Defender was the only one left in the courtyard, he had his sword raised above his head. The courtyard was torn to shreds, except for that tree that Charlemagne had been looking at, it stood alone in the chaos, protect by something, everything else around it was torn up and scorched. "Ah that tree has been spared by the Lord in his righteousness, it is a sign," he collapsed to his knees and started chanting prayers rapidly in Latin.

I rolled my eyes, I walked over to the tree, "or it's just chance," I looked down at the roots, the top of a pot was peeking out the soil, "or magic." I knelt next to it, and tried to pull out said pot.

"No unbeliever, it is a sign of the mercy of the Lord in his highest," he started praying in Latin again.

"Someone's highest maybe," I muttered as I inspected the my target, detecting no traps against magic. I pulled at the pot with magic, but it would not move, "oh boy, another riddle, how to remove a pot from the ground. So, who are you?" I asked raising my voice to keep him occupied in case he got bored of praying, and decided that the pot was holy, and I as an unbeliever was not allowed to touch it, because then, I had no doubts he would split my from crown to toe. 'Should have killed him,' the thought from earlier appeared again, giving me really unuseful advice, like, how to kill him, so in the end I just ignored it, and started worrying for my sanity.

"I am the Lord's Sword on Earth," I sighed as I got ready for another tirade of religious gibberish, "I defend his faithful from monsters and demons, I am the Defender of the Faith. I am anointed by the Lord's Hand on Earth, given my missions by the Hand's closest. I am protected by the Word of the Lord, and wield the Lord's Light, and dispense the Lord's Justice. I carry out this task until the Lord sees fit to sap my strength so I must begin to train another, so that his legacy may continue."

'I really hate fanatics,' I thought to myself as he prattled on and on about the glory of his Lord, and how he became a knight, and how the Church worked. "Look, this is really interesting and all, but, I am not interested in the inner working of your Church."

"What are you doing?" The Defender asked over my shoulder, I jumped.

'How did a man in full plate move so quietly?' I sighed, "I am trying to dig out this jar, I need its contents, it's why I'm here in the first place."

"Have you tried asking nicely? The Lord usually delivers unto those who are patient, and kind, and courteous. Please my Lord, may I have this jar?" The Defender asked the ground, I was about to scoff at his naivety, when the jar rose out of the ground, "see the Lord delivers unto those who are pious."

I facepalmed, "so, that's what he meant by something no Titan would think of, they would never lower themselves to the extent of asking politely for something."

"So, what is in this jar?" The Defender asked as he looked at the brown clay pot with great interest.

"Knowledge, knowledge to defeat the plans of a monster," I said, hoping my answer was vague enough, yet detailed enough to satisfy him.

"It is a sin to pry into the business of others, so I shall not," he placed the jar on the ground and walked back into Notre Dame.

"Well, that was weird," an out of breath Coeus said as he ran into the courtyard, he brightened up when he saw the jar, "ah, there's my jar," he picked the jar up off the ground, and undid the lid, I expected something, anything, even a puff of smoke, instead, nothing happened.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," I said, then I reached in and pulled out the stone tablet, I read the tablet and facepalmed, the monster was the Ophiotaurus, or better known to me as Bessie, the cow serpent. "Oh come on," I shouted, "I just met that creature, I've got to go back to America, and find it again, why couldn't it just be simple, or at least something I hadn't met yet?"

Coeus shrugged, "that's how things work in life, the simple answer is staring you in the face."

"Talking from experience there Grandpa?" I asked sarcastically, Coeus blushed.

"No comment," I smiled, "anyway, I should get back to the others, um, I should find the others first, do you know where they are? Or how to find them?"

Coeus shrugged, "search me, I only know rational matters that I get from my experiences, or from books, and the actions of Demigods are not found in books, and are definitely not rational, ever."

"Hey, I represent that comment," Coeus just shrugged nonchalantly again, I sighed at my Great-Grandfather, "anyway, so how do you reckon I find them?"

"Did you put a tracer on them?"

"No, I forgot," I sighed, "I wonder where they are going, all I have to go on is that they went West, but goodness knows where, west of Long Island is a really large place."

"Janet, be rational, they would go somewhere depending on the people involved, you said Artemis has been captured, but who else is involved?"

"Well, obviously Kronos, and Luke, as well as the Manticore, some human mercenaries, oh, and someone called the General -" I stopped when Coeus paled, "what's wrong?"

"Atlas, he was the Titan's general," Coeus suddenly brightened up and clicked his fingers, "we need to get back to London, I've had an idea of how to track them," he put his hand on my shoulder. "Same as last time," I held my breath and shut my eyes, there was the same bright flash, and we were suddenly in a warmer place than we left.


	30. Chapter 30

We had reappeared in a room I had never been in before, it was red. Everything was red. The floor was a red carpet, the walls were a flowery print of red on red, the ceiling was red, the furniture (two armchairs, a sofa and a coffee table) was made of a reddish wood, and upholstered with red velvet, the whole thing was rather unsettling.

"This is my red room, I don't know why it is red, I just decided it was one day, which is weird, my usual colour is a sort of faded flaxen yellow, like the colour of an old book page. Anyway, this way," he opened a door that had been the same colour as the wall, making it almost invisible, beyond was a well lit white corridor, where everything appeared to be stuck to the ceiling. The white carpet was on the ceiling, the floor was instead a sort of bumpy white surface that looked more like a ceiling than a floor. Every few paces was a set of white curtains, and between them, marble busts stuck to white tables, each bust was a famous scientist, mathematician, alchemist, wizard or philosopher, they ranged from Nietzsche, to Faraday, to Hawking, to Plato.

"What is this place?" I asked after several minutes of walking along the seemingly endless corridor.

"My Hall of Rationality, I built this all when I has bored, I think in the tenth and eleventh centuries, it house a bust of rational people who made contributions to their fields, or in the case of philosophers, pioneered a new argument, ideology,or philosophy. No matter how wrong a person was, as long as their contribution was made through rational means, and helped another discovery, their bust is in here. Hey, look, Lavoisier," he pointed at a bust of the Frenchman, "he was one of mine," he said proudly before his expression darkened. "One of the few who made it to adulthood, seeing as Zeus never lets my children into camp, or Phoebe's, or any other Deity who refused to side with either side in the war."

"I'm sorry to hear that, do you actually have that many?"

"At the moment, six, thankfully, I managed to prevent any from joining Kronos, I will have to pick a side in the upcoming war. I like this world too much to my Brothers tear it all down, not that I can do much, I'm not a warrior, or a strategist, I'm an occasionally forgetful scholar."

"Hey, you can do loads Grandpa, you're a Deity who is not really constrained by the laws of the Gods, you can talk to the Gods, tell them the war is coming, they will listen to you, even if they won't admit it."

"What do you mean? Zeus values my opinions like you value those a gnat."

"You're the Titan of Reason, if you break your centuries long silence on political matters to tell them war is coming and that you will support them, they will sit up and take notice, or at least, some will, and they and can convince the others."

Coeus rubbed his chin, "hmm, you may be right, I will go to the winter meeting, whether they want me or not. I should marshal my forces, or rather, find a force for me to marshal, I think I can talk to some old friends about that. This door," he once again opened a door that I could not see until he turned the door handle.

The room he led me into was a study of some kind, it was a relatively small room, compared to the never ending corridor, but it was still quite large, about the same size as Dumbledore's office. The floor was a weird picture of the Earth under some thin glass, but it was not really a picture, because I could see clouds moving across the surface, it was more like a projection of some kind. Around the edge was bookcases, lots of bookcases, lined with books from all ages, massive Georgian tomes vied for space with Collins Little Gems books about various countries, there was also the ever present marble busts set in gaps in the bookcases.

"Welcome to my Geography and Geology room, yes that is the actual world in real time, now then, what were we doing? Oh, hi Humboldt," he said turning to talk to one of the busts

I facepalmed, "we were looking for my friends, the ones on the quest to save the world."

Coeus spun around to face me, "oh right, I knew that, I just forgot," he walked out onto the glass and crouched down, he then leaned forward to press his face against the glass, "nope, can't see them, which is strange, Demigods usually glow on here - " I stopped him

"Wait, you have a magic that shows you the locations of demigods, and you never told anyone, never used it to help Chiron find Demigods, even though it could have saved thousands of lives?" To say I was a little angry at my slightly crazy Grandpa would be an understatement

It only works when they know they're Demigods, you see, magical creatures, including Demigods, magicians, and monsters all give off an aura when their magical essence activates. With monsters that is the second they become monsters, magicians it is when they get their first wand, but with Demigods, it's when they first start believing the Gods are real, or at least parts of the mythos are. For example, when they face their first monster, or meet their protector as their protector then they show up on here as a bright flash before fading to a point of light. But I can't see the auras in North America at the moment, my brothers are causing too much interference with whatever is going on in California, it would take a massive event, like a God taking their true form, or a Demigod dying to break through the interference." I saw a flash out the corner of my eye, I look at the map, somewhere in the middle of America, a black column of light, tinged with silver has appeared. It was fading as I looked at it, the intensity diminishing, and the colour fading to grey before vanishing totally. "Like that, that was the death of a Demigod Huntress, I can't remember what black means though, I haven't used this in a really long time, and perfect black is really rare, but from the amount of time it lasted for, definitely the child of a member of the Olympian council, or Hades."

"That has to be Bianca," I said momentarily saddened, I had not really talk to either of them, but it was still sad whenever a family member died. "All the other Huntresses are at Camp, except Zoë, but I'm pretty sure she's a nymph, can you track it?" I asked hopefully.

"Of course," he waved his hand and the spike of light reappeared, he pressed his face to the glass again, let's see here, I'd say, Hephaestus' junkyard, near Gila Claw. Yes, I can see their group now, they're heading West, they'll hit a river soon, my guess is they'll travel up the river, and reach the Hoover Dam by lunchtime tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" I knew Coeus was the Titan of rational thought and all that, but he did not seem very reliable.

Coeus gave me a look of disappointment, "am I sure? Am I sure? I am Coeus, I'm always sure, and I am always right."

"I was just making sure," I said defensively, "so, um, do you think you could get me to America?" I asked nervously, "the floo network was shut down."

"Of course, this way," he led me out of the room through the door we had just entered through, and back out into the never ending corridor.

Or so I thought, instead we walked into a large dark room, Coeus clapped his hands, and lights appeared, little orbs that were floating in the air suddenly blazed into light. The new light revealed the room to be the size of several of Hogwart's great hall, the room was shaped like half a tube, with the wall forming a semicircle above our heads. The walls were made of grey metal and the floor of grey concrete, we were standing on a platform halfway up the side of the room. From our vantage point, we could see that the room was half full of crates and more busts on pedestals, the other half was life size replicates of various vehicles, aircraft and spaceships, ranging from a skeleton horse and buggy to a rocket marked Saturn V.

"Welcome to my room of transportation," Coeus said as he led me down from the platform, "now then where did I leave it?" He asked as he led me through the maze of crates, "hi Stevenson," he said to a bust we passed.

After wandering seemingly aimlessly through the box maze and then through the collection of vehicles, passing thousands of cars, vans, lorries, biplanes, triplanes, jet planes, rockets, chariots, motorcycles, trains. You name it, it was there, he even had a pogo stick, "what are we looking for?" I asked after getting bored of looking at Coeus' collection.

"My chariot, I know it is around here somewhere, it is faded yellow, with brown trim, and says _knowledge is the truest of powers_ on the sides, or it might be in the form of something else, I can't remember how I left it."

"Grandpa?" I asked, he turned to me, "how come for the Titan of rational thought you're so forgetful?"

"Ah, well, it's a combination of being thrown into Tartarus, and that spell I cast before being thrown into the pit, you see, it weakened me for several centuries. So, while I was in there, my memory started to fail because everything was attacking me. I managed to save my knowledge, and intelligence, but my memory of corporeal matters, like where I leave things, what I'm doing, etcetera, etcetera, tends to fail, and no-one can do anything about it. But I don't really mind, I have learnt to live with it."

"Oh, that's dreadful, surely the Gods can - " I started before Coeus cut me off.

"Zeus would barely give me the time of day, he's still angry I refuse to side with him, and get involved in politics, I know he would fix it, but we would want me to side with him in every political matter. Something that I will never do," he said sadly before suddenly brightening up. "I remember where I left it, wait here," he strode off into the trains area, "I was using it as a train, I can't remember why, here we are," there was a bright flash that made me wince, and cover my eyes, "sorry, my bad." I heard the revving of an engine, "there we go, come on over, I'm ready," I walked over to where the sound was coming from. The sound was coming from an old fashioned sports car painted a faded yellow colour, with _knowledge is the truest of powers_ written down the side, the seats were brown leather. Coeus was dressed like a World War II fighter pilot, "I present, the Chariot of Knowledge, currently an E Type Jaguar, hop aboard, we will be at the Hoover Dam before your friends. We could be there sooner, but there's some law Zeus implemented, only the Olympians can go full speed, it actually is a good idea. You see, we tend to crash into aeroplanes, or birds, blimps, spacecraft, parachuters, helicopters, tall buildings, we're not very good pilots as we learnt when we the only things in the sky."

So on that note we climbed into the sports car, which was larger on the inside, "stand by for lift off," Coeus said into a tin can that was in the cupholder.

"Who are you talking to?" I asked, the can was not attached to anything.

"Just wait," Coeus said, the roof started to move, the very top split and slid to the side, creating an opening large enough for even the largest of Coeus' vehicles to get through, "there we go." He put the car into gear and the car started moving, straight upwards, "I'd get some sleep if I was you, we are in for a long drive, and you look rather tired, don't worry, I'll guard your dreams." As soon as he mentioned it, I realised, he was right, the fight with Tala, the excitement of finding the jar, the long walk through Coeus' strange home, it had tired me out, so much so I could barely keep my eyes open, so, I let myself drift off to a dreamless sleep.

"Janet," a voice cut through my sleep, I woke up groggily to Coeus saying my name, and shaking my shoulder, "we've arrived," I looked out the windows. We were parked not far from a massive concrete wall, which spanned an entire river valley, "muggle engineering at its finest," Coeus said as he noticed my gawking. "We passed over your friends a short while ago, they were acquiring kayaks. Or were they canoes? I never know the difference, it's not really important, anyway, if they get helps from the nymphs in the river, which is more than likely, they will be here in a couple of hours. Anyway, I better get going, I have to get ready for the council, I wonder if they still wear those powdered wigs?"

I giggled at the thought of Apollo in a powdered wig, "thanks Grandpa," I said as I stepped out the car, Coeus waved, and drove off into the desert.


	31. Chapter 31

'Well, I have about two hours to wait, and I'm at one of Annabeth's favourite landmarks, she would be furious if I did not take a look around.' My stomach rumbled, but before that, I had to find a restaurant or café, I was rather hungry, having not eaten since the previous breakfast. After wandering around completely lost for the best part of an hour, maybe longer, it's hard to tell the time without a watch. I decided I needed help, I walked over to a nearby person who looked like a tour guide. Well, he had a rectangular badge with writing on, after much concentration I worked out that it said John Peters, he was also wearing a black suit. "Excuse me," I said quietly, the guide whirled around, but upon seeing me relaxed, "I was wondering if you knew the way to the restaurant?"

"Why of course my dear," he said said in a thick West Country accent, which was kind of weird to hear in America, he was tall, and weather beaten like a farmer. He had light brown eyes set in a ruddy face, topped with short brown hair that was greying at the temples, and laughter lines around his eyes and mouth, he looked like someone's Grandpa, "and what's your name my dear?"

"Janet," I said, he smiled a really wide smile.

"Well then Janet, it is next to your DOOM!" He shouted pulling a wand from inside his suit jacket.

I sighed, "now even farmers are attacking me," I muttered, "this really won't work, if you know why I'm here you know you can't beat me," I said trying trying to prevent a fight in public.

"Oh, I know what you are little girl, you're a halfling, an impurity to be used in the glory of the Dark Lord," I really had a hard time taking this farmer in a suit seriously.

"Very well then, do you worst," a red spell shot towards me, I blocked it with a shield, I returned fire with a fireball, which also hit a shield, " **conjuro fulguris maxima** ," the lightning shot towards the farmer, I assumed at this point that he was a Death Eater, he rolled out of the way. "I fought a demon, you're not even a challenge, Mr Peters," I had to fight the urge to laugh at his name, it was an appropriate name for a farmer, not for a servant of a lunatic Hades bent on escaping death. "You really need a better name," I said as I threw a fireball at him, it hit, and the momentum knocked him backwards, but his suit did not catch on fire. "Why is everything fireproof?" I shouted in frustration, John Peters, you know, the farmer, got to his feet.

"Armoured jacket, perfect for fighting Demigods," he shot his own lightning spell at me, I shielded myself again.

"Where are Death Eaters getting all these armoured jackets from? Is there a two for one sale down at your local evil Gap?" I asked as I started levitating rocks at him, he was destroying them as

"No," he said in voice that made me wonder if there actually was.

"This is really pointless," I said as I started throwing more rocks at him as fast as I could, but even when they did hit, I only managed body shots, the impact of which was absorbed by his coat. He returned fire with a barrage of spells, which forced me back a step, I felt the cliff edge crumble behind me, at some point in the fight we had made our way over to the edge of the cliff.

"Surrender and I will kill you quickly," John Peters shouted.

"You don't know much about Demigods, we never surrender, never give up, and never lose," I pulled the water out of the canyon and started throwing orbs and whips of water at him. He responded by vaporising my projectiles, so I just sent as much water as I could control at him, his armoured coat, whilst great against spells and impacts cannot defend that well against about a tonne of water hitting you in the chest, the Death Eater went sprawling, and did not get up. "Well, I win."

I checked he was alive before using a payphone to call the Aurors, and resumed my quest for the restaurant. I eventually found a canteen of sorts, so after eating my fill and paying for it, I went to the edge of the dam, and waited. "Lovely view, isn't it?" A creaky old voice crowed next to me, I turned to see a little old lady, who I really hoped was not a monster. She was wearing a white shirt that said in big, dyslexia friendly letter, Well I'll be Dammed, with a picture of the valley before it was dammed just below, she was also wearing jeans and white trainers. She had long grey hair pulled back in a pony tail with sharp grey eyes in her wrinkled face. "My father helped build this dam, said it was his proudest achievement, to be part of something as big as this, he kept a picture of the dam on his windowsill," she smiled fondly at some lost memory. "I live close by, and he said to me on his deathbed, that one day heroes will come to our dam, he always called it our dam, and they would need help. I was to tell them, that salvation comes from many sources, including her father's statues, I'm just waiting for those heroes to arrive, so I tell everyone I see." She then smiled at me, and shuffled off, leaving me to digest what she just said, 'the advice is not for me, Dad has not got any statues, in fact the only people on the quest who that does correspond with are Zoë, and Thalia. So, are there any statues to Zeus, up here?' I thought through everything I had seen up here, 'it is possible that the old lady was nuts, not every mysterious person who I meet is actually useful.' As I mulled it over two canoes appeared on the river, they were moving upstream against the current, but no-one was paddling, 'here they are.' I thought as I watched them get out the canoes, 'what's the fastest way down?' I wondered as I leaned over the edge, 'could I slow my fall from this high up, I've done like two or three stories before, but never this many.'

I decided to find out, I jumped over the edge and commanded the air to cushion my fall and slow me, I fell quickly, but soon slowed, until I plopped into the water like I had just jumped off a table. I re-emerged from the water and stifled a laugh as I looked over at the others, and waved, "hi guys." They were all looking at me with the same amazed expression on their faces, eyes wide, mouth hanging open and working to try and make a sound, except Zoe, who looked annoyed at being splashed.


	32. Chapter 32

"What the - ?" Percy tried

"Why did you just jump off the Hoover Dam?" Thalia asked having recovered her cool first.

"I wanted to make sure we didn't miss each other, anyway," I said as I made my to the edge of the river, pulling the water off myself as I got out.

"Did you succeed on your mission?" Zoë asked weirdly angry.

"Naturally, and Coeus is going to side with Olympus, so I decided to come and say hi to you guys, see how your end off the quest is going." They shared a look, Percy opened his mouth to speak, "I know about Bianca, Coeus has a magic map, it's supposed to show him where all active Demigods are. But, naturally, it doesn't really work at the moment, his brothers are causing too much interference, but it did record a powerful Demigod Huntress dying, which I guessed to be Bianca. Oh yeah, he is also pretty sure the General is Atlas, which means the burden is probably the sky."

"Oh great," Thalia said sarcastically, "another Titan to deal with, just what I always wanted. Anyway, we need to get up there, that's where the road is," she pointed up at the parking garage.

We spent the best part of an hour looking for a path toled us up (or in my case back up) to the damn dam, when we finally made it up there, it was getting cold, and the wind had picked up. Grover was sniffing the wind nervously, and was looking around for something, "how close are they?"

"Maybe not close, the wind on the dam, the desert all around us... the scent can probably carry for miles. But, it's coming from several directions, I don't like that."

"There's a snack bar in the visitor's centre," Thalia said.

"You've been here before?" Percy asked.

"Once, to see the guardians," she pointed at a small plaza I had not seen earlier, which was carved into the cliff edge, there were a pair of bronze statues, they were sort of featureless angels, Percy insisted on calling them Oscars with wings. "They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built, a gift from Athena," I looked at the statues again, there was a cluster of tourists around them looking at the statue's feet.

"What are they doing?" Percy asked.

"Rubbing the toes, they think it's good luck," Thalia said.

"Why?"

Thalia snorted and shook her head, "mortals get crazy ideas, they don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."

"When you were here last, did they talk to you, or move at all?" I asked, remembering what the old lady said.

Thalia's face darkened, which gave the impression that was the reason that she came here, "no, they don't do anything, they're just big metal statues."

"Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoë said, "we should eat while we can.

Grover, and Percy stifled a chuckle, "the dam snack bar?" Grover asked.

"Yes?" Zoë asked in confusion, "what is funny?"

"Nothing," Grover said trying to straighten out his features, "I could use some dam French fries."

Thalia smiled, I rolled my eyes, I suppose after losing someone so close to them they could use all the laughter they could get, "and I need to use the dam restroom."

Percy, Grover and Thalia broke down laughing, Zoë turned to me, utterly confused, "I do not understand."

Grover stopped laughing long enough to try again, "I want to use the dam water fountain," before breaking down in laughter again, I joined in their laughter.

"And," Thalia said taking a deep breath, "I want a dam t-shirt."

Suddenly both Grover and Percy stopped laughing, "did I just hear a cow?" Grover asked, I stopped laughing to listen.

"A dam cow?" Thalia asked between fits of laughter.

"No, I'm serious," Grover said scratching the back of his head, Thalia stopped laughing and we all listened intently for a cow.

I shook my head, "I didn't hear anything."

"I heard nothing," Zoë said.

Thalia looked at Percy, "Percy, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he did not look okay, he was as pale as a sheet, "you guys go ahead, I'll be right in."

"What's wrong?" Grover asked sympathetically as he put a hand on Percy's shoulder.

"Nothing," Percy said, he sounded worried, maybe a little ill, "I just need a minute, to think," the rest of the group shared glances before walking off to the visitor centre.

"I'm going to have a look at those statues," I said as I remembered that strange old woman, "come, and get me if something happens," I walked away from the group and headed for the little plaza area.

I spent the best part of ten minutes carefully looking over the statues, but all I determined was that they were indeed sacred to Zeus, "well, that was a waste of time," I muttered as I looked over the statues again. I was stopped by the sound of screaming and shouting, "ten minutes, that has got to be a new record for destroying a national landmark."

I turned to see the others running towards me, pursued by eleven food covered skeletons dressed as security guards, someone must have started a food fight, I blame Grover, "five against eleven," Zoë said as she drew her hunting knife, "and they cannot die."

"It's been nice adventuring with you guys," Grover said, his voice trembling a little.

" **Repulso immortus** ," I cast, the skeletons fell over as they all hit a barrier, "and there you go, although, we still need an escape strategy, that barrier will not last forever." As I said it, the skeletons started pounding on the barrier, it would not hold long, they were stronger than they looked, and I was weaker than I thought after my little stunt off the dam.

"Whoa," Percy said, "their toes really are shiny."

"Percy," Thalia shouted, "now is not the time."

Percy suddenly smiled as if he thought of something, "Thalia, pray to your Dad."

Thalia glared her death glare at Percy, "he never answers."

"Just this once," Percy pleaded, "ask for help, I think... I think the statues can give us some luck," beyond my barrier, I watched as the skeletons drew guns, I cursed, the barrier would not stop bullets.

" **Depulso guns** ," rather than the guns fly out the skeletons' hands like they should have, the skeletons' grip was too tight, and they fell over again. "I **ncendio** ," the fire hit a skeleton, but it only set fire to its uniform, it had no effect on the skeleton underneath, who did not burn, "everything is fireproof," I muttered angrily. Percy and Thalia were arguing behind me, but I was more focused on the skeletons, I pulled a block of rock out the ground and hit it into one of the skeletons, it shattering most of its bones, but it was only temporary. I watched as the bones knitted themselves back together, within seconds the skeleton was back on its feet. "Stop arguing and do something," I shouted, "I can't hold them off forever," I tried to hit another skeleton away with the rock, but they were getting smarter, it dodged before the rock could hit it. 'New tactic needed,' I pulled up a wall of rock to slow them down, but I got the feeling that it would not last long. I could hear Thalia praying behind me, I watched as the skeletons started climbing over the rock wall, and jumped down, exactly as my barrier faded, I got ready to fight, as did the others. But, I did not needed to, for at that moment a shadow fell over us, I turned expecting to see Thanatos, but it was not everyone's favourite God of Death.

The two statues were standing up and stretching as if they had just woken up, I think one even yawned, the skeletons, upon seeing the statues, raised their guns again. Five skeletons were swept away in a blur of movement, and a flash of bronze, the other six opened fire, I raised a shield. It was unnecessary, the bullets were all blocked by a giant bronze wing, it sounded like heavy rain on a metal roof. There was another blur of movement, and the remaining skeletons went flying.

"Man, it feels good to stand up!" One angel said in a hollow, tinny voice, like it had echoed around inside him before he spoke

"Will you look at my toes!" The other one shouted in the same voice, "holy Zeus! What were the tourists thinking?"

I was less interested in what they had to say about tourists, and more interested in the reassembling skeletons across the road, half formed hands groped blindly for the guns, "we may have a problem," I said, the others turned to face them, " **depulso guns** ," the guns flew from the half formed hands, and skitted away over the cliff.

"Get us out of here," Thalia shouted at the statues.

The two statues looked at each other, "Zeus' kid," they said in hollow harmony.

"Can we get a please Miss Zeus' kid?" The second statue asked.

"Please!" Thalia shouted, the two statues looked at each other.

One of them shrugged, "could use a stretch, but, um five of you, four hands."

I cursed, before I remembered something, "there's a floo tube here, I'll meet you in San Francisco, oh, hang on, **vestigent** ," I cast the tracking charm on Percy, "there, good to go." The angels grabbed the four of them and flew off, I ran to the floo tube (disguised as a toilet cubicle) and was soon transported to San Francisco.


	33. Chapter 33

'And now, I wait,' I thought as I stepped out the phone booth, startling the nearest homeless person, who ran off jibbering about aliens invading, as everyone around him tried to ignore him. I could feel my tracking charm at work, Percy was due east of me, a long way away, but closing in quickly, but it would still take hours for them to get here, in fact, by the time they arrived it would be evening. Meaning, we would need hotel room, we would have only one day to save Artemis. I walked through San Francisco looking for a hotel advertising vacancies, but despite it being Winter, all the hotels were booked out. I was about to give up in despair when I found a small hotel advertising vacancies, even better, it was a magician hotel, so I decided to check it out.

The foyer of the hotel was empty except for the receptionist, who was dressed in a high collar suit and reading a copy of Magical Me, which was weird, seeing as everyone now knew Lockhart was a fraud. The foyer had white walls with one being covered in a mural of vineyards, the floor was white tiles, and the only furniture was a pair of armchairs, a table covered in outdated magazines, and the receptionist's desk and chair.

"Excuse me," I said, the receptionist started in surprise and almost fell out of his chair.

"Oh, hello, can I help you?" He asked in a very monotone voice, he was about twenty, he was really tall, well over six foot, he was also very gaunt, like all the fat on his face had been sucked out, leaving his cheeks just shaded hollows. His skin was extremely pale, he had short brown hair, and watery green eyes with a distant look to them, like he was not really there.

"Is this a magician hotel?" I asked nervous that I misinterpreted the sign.

"Yes, it is a hotel for all magical beings, not just magicians," something was off in his voice, like he was not really the one talking, or he was a recording, "how many rooms will you require?"

"Three rooms for five people, all in single beds," I said as I tried to work out what I had heard in his voice.

He took two keys keys off of rows of little hooks behind him, "follow me." He led me through a weird maze of corridors, until eventually he reached a door, he opened it and led me inside.

The room beyond was a large room, with red walls and a red tiled floor, in the centre of the room was a plinth with a huge four poster bed hidden behind a veil. Behind the veil I could see a female figure moving about, "this room is already occupied," I said, the receptionist was now standing perfectly still, not even breathing, in the doorway, blocking the exit.

"It appears I have a guest," a high sultry female voice said, the figure behind the veil pulled back said veil, to reveal a stunningly beautiful woman, she had the same pale skin as the receptionist, with long platinum blond hair framing a perfect face set with sharp blue eyes. She was also not wearing much behind the veil, she was in a gauzy red dress, which was practically see through, I blushed, and she smiled at me, revealing two large fangs.

'Oh great, vampires,' I thought, 'which explains what was going on with the receptionist, he's a drone or a fledgling not yet changed to a full vampire, although, I would like to know what kind of vampire she is.'

The lady vampire sniffed the air, and a frown crossed her feature, "you're not scared of me?"

"No, not really, which kind of vampire are you, Transylvanian? Monstrous? Demonic?"

"I'm a demonic," I sighed in relief, she frowned again, "what? Why are you relieved?"

"Well, if you were Transylvanian I would have had a problem, however, you're demonic, so you cannot bite me."

She frowned angrily at me, "how so?"

"Well, I'm a Demigod, the Godly ichor in the veins of Demigods burns demonic vampires," the vampire got off her bed revealing that the piece of gauze only reached to about a three fingers below her hips. She walked over to me with perfect grace, she then sniffed me, which was kind of rude.

"Ah yes, you are, it was hard to smell it over the witch blood, well then, I suppose I should kill you, otherwise you might call the Aurors on me," suddenly a hand was around my throat, and I was forcibly turned to face her. "I could snap your neck right now, what do you have to say to that?" Her face had transformed, it had elongated, her jaw widening, her beautiful eyes had changed into black pits with white pupils. Her hand was too tight for me to speak, or breath, the blood was pounding in my ears, I set fire to her gauzy dress, she screamed and tore off the dress, I gasped in air as she dealt with her dress. "I liked that dress, now you will die," she rushed towards me faster than I could see, but I had already set up a shield, she rebounded off the shield and slid to the other side of the room. "Get her you dolt!" She shouted as she got to her feet.

I moved on instinct, a fist came into contact with my shoulder, sending me reeling into my own shield, the receptionist was now advancing on me with blank eyes. I cursed myself for forgetting him, he was standing like a boxer, ready to swing at me, I cringed as I felt the vampire attack my shield behind me. The receptionist punched at me again, I stepped out the way, and grabbed his arm, I then pulled, and flipped him onto the ground. Rather than having the air driven from his lungs like it would a living creature, he simply got to his feet, I reinforced the barrier as I prepared to deal with the receptionist.

"Never fear, the Aurors are here," a voice shouted, causing all three of us to turn towards the doorway, standing there was a man in a linen suit with a clock face stuck to a hood that covered his face, he was carrying a walking stick. I knew this Auror, he called himself the Clock, he was the one Nico met in DC, he was very old. He'd had almost century on the force yet still sounded young, despite his age he was very spry, although, he was almost totally insane, and no-one knew his real name, "well Auror, James isn't really an Auror, but close enough."

"Tear him to shreds!" The vampire shouted as she redoubled her attacks on my shield, the receptionist turned and charged the Clock, I turned back to the vampire. The only ways to kill a vampire are to destroy one totally, or to puncture the heart with a holy object, and I lacked a holy object. "Just you and me girly," she said, I then realised she was just in her underwear, and started blushing furiously, causing the vampire to laugh. "Like what you see?" She asked as she slashed her nails through the remains of my shield, only to be greeted by a blast of fire to the face, she wailed as she caught fire, her hair going up like dried straw, she started hitting at it with her hands, only to set her hands on fire. I quickly extinguished the flames, leaving her hands and face charred, and her hair just a pile of ashes. "Look what you did!" She shouted, I expect if vampires could cry she would have been crying, "my beautiful skin, my beautiful hair, ruined, you ruined it all."

"I'll ruin more if you don't come quietly," the Clock shouted, I look over to see the receptionist struggling against some magic cuffs.

"Just wait until I've killed her!" She shouted as she jumped at me, something flew past my ear and embedded itself in her chest, she collapsed to the ground just in front of me.

"Oh," she said before crumbling into dust, leaving a dagger on the floor.

"Holy water laced throwing dagger," the Clock said as he walked over and picked up the dagger, his cane clicking against the tiles, "perfect for Demonics. I'd been staking out his place for weeks, it's been possibly the most boring assignment I've ever had," he then whipped his head to the left, "shh."

"I didn't - "

"Not you, him," he point at an empty space next to him.

"There's no-one there," he looked at me in confusion.

"Don't be rude, of course there is, James is right there. Anyway, what about that guy?" he pointed at the handcuffed receptionist who was crawling over to the pile of ash that had once been his mistress, "oh right, he's a fledgling, good point," he was now talking to the empty area of air next to him. "You may wish to look away," he said as he walked over to the fledgling, I turned my back, I heard the knife cut flesh, "you can look now." I turned back, there was another pile of dust next to the first one, "dreadful business fledglings, the law is clear, fledglings whose masters die must die with them, because they cannot function without them," he sounded genuinely sad about it. "The law is tough, but it is the law."

"Thank you for your help," I said as I tried not to think about him committing murder in cold blood, even if it was justifiable.

The Clock waved me off, "you would have won by yourself, but I could not put in my report that I let you deal with her by yourself, by the way little Demigod, I would be careful if I was you. San Francisco is now even less safe than it was before, a Manticore is prowling the streets, and I saw someone who I think might be Atlas walking up Tamalpais, if I was you, I would be leaving town. You should probably leave, this is now a crime scene," he sighed, "yay, paperwork."

I left the Clock to his investigation, or paperwork, or whatever he was doing, Percy and the others were only a couple of hours away, and I still did not have anywhere for us to stay. I sat down on the edge of a touristy part of the docks and watched the boats by, I sat there and contemplated how strange my life was. All around me were happy families, doing normal things in their preparation for the holiday season, unaware of how close the world could be. Here I was, sitting in on the edge of a dock, waiting for my friends to be flown in by giant metal angel, so we could prepare to fight a Titan, rescue a Goddess, and our friend, and save the world from Bessie the adorable baby cow serpent. 'Yep, my life is weird,' I thought, 'and I would not trade it for anything.'

I got up and prepared to continue my search for a hotel room, when I heard screaming, I could have ignored it, there are a lot of Aurors in San Francisco. But, I was bored, and the screaming sounded interesting, so I walked down the docks towards the screaming, in the opposite direction to the screaming masses. All I could make out was something about a lion, which could be almost any monster, I eventually cleared the crowd, and was disappointed to find it actually was a lion. it was eating the insides of a hot-dog cart, whilst some animal control officers snuck up on it with a dart gun, I turned and left them to it, turns out, not every screaming crowd is running from a monster.


	34. Chapter 34

I eventually found some vacancies in a hotel, and half an hour later, Percy's tracker stopped moving, he was really close, only a couple of streets over. I left the rooms I had rented, and walked over to see them.

When I reached them, Thalia looked ready to be ill, and the angels were nowhere to be seen, "that good was it?" I asked Thalia, who just glared at me, "I got us hotel rooms for the night," the others brightened up slightly except Zoë.

"We should not delay any further from rescuing Lady Artemis," she then betrayed herself by yawning.

"When was the last time you four slept? You will be no good in a fight when we do find the General if you cannot keep your eyes open, besides, we need a plan. Come on." Iled them back to the hotel, via a Chinese takeaway, so that within twenty minutes were all sitting around in one of the rooms, Grover and Percy in the uncomfortable chairs, Zoë, Thalia, and myself sitting on the two twin beds. "According to an Auror I met," I started, "Atlas has been seen climbing up Mount Tamalpais, just outside the city, however, the Auror is slightly insane, so it might not be true."

"No," Zoë said, "he is right, Atlas is on Mount Tamalpais, the only problem is reaching him."

"Um, aren't we forgetting about finding the all powerful monster that can end civilisation?" Percy asked.

"We have to find Nereus," Grover said, "that's what Apollo said," I was sure there was probably a story behind that, but I did not want to delay everything to hear it.

"The old man of the sea," Percy said nodding, "I'm supposed to find him and force him to tell me what he knows."

Zoë grimaced, "old Nereus eh?"

"You know him?" Thalia asked raising one eyebrow.

"My mother was a sea goddess, yes, I know him, unfortunately, he is never very hard to find, just follow the smell."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"I will show thee in the morning," Zoë said, taking that as a dismissal, Percy, and Grover left the room, and the three of us prepared for bed, including a small argument over the use of the shower, which we all wanted first dibs at.

* * *

The morning started with Zoë stealing from a charity donation box.

Zoë stole a really nasty red and black flannel shirt, some large blue jeans, a floppy gay pride hat and some really old red trainers. Five minutes later, Percy was wearing all those items, and was not happy about it whilst Thalia, Grover and I were trying not to burst out laughing at the sight. "Oh yeah," Grover said behind his hand, "you look totally inconspicuous now."

"A typical male vagrant," Zoë said as she stepped back to admire her fashion choices, she smiled slightly at the sight.

"Thanks a lot, Percy grumbled, "why am I doing this?"

"I told thee…"

"You," I interjected, but Zoë ignored me and carried on talking.

"Need to blend in."

She led us through the city to the seafront where spent the next hour marching up and down the docks until we reached a soup kitchen on a pier. Zoë pointed down the pier, "he will be down there somewhere, he never travels very far from the water, he likes to sun himself during the day."

"How do I know which one is him?"

"Sneak up, act homeless, thou will know him, he will smell… different," and that was Zoë's expert advice.

"Great, so I sniff everyone, what do I do when I find him?"

"Grab him and hold on," I said, "force him to tell you where the Ophiotaurus is, he cannot lie, he will do anything to shake you off, don't let go, also, he can turn into any fish or marine mammal."

"Wait, if he's magical, why am I dealing with him, surely you're better qualified?"

I glared at him, Percy shrank back a little, "he's a sea god, he will try to drown you, it's basic logic, especially as he can't transform out of water. Also, I'm not allowed to use magic in public, and we are rather public here."

"Good points," he grumbled as he stormed up the pillar before playing the homeless guy act rather well. He wandered seemingly aimlessly before stopping next to a man who can only be described as the vagabond child of Santa in his pyjamas and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, which had been the hilariously bad monster in an old movie Alice made me watch. Percy froze next to the guy before jumping him, they rolled down the pier, then fell into the water. A few moments later they reappeared with Percy holding a seal, they went under again, and re-emerged a minute later on a dilapidated boat dock, we ran down to them.

"Oh great, an audience for my humiliation," Swamp Santa moaned, "the normal deal, I suppose? You'll let me go if I answer your question?"

"I've got more than one question," Percy said angrily.

"Only one question per capture! That's the rule," Swamp Santa said firmly.

"All right Nereus, tell me where to find this terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods," Percy growled, "the one Artemis was hunting."

"Ah," Nereus said evilly, "those are two separate beasts, but the one you want is there," he pointed at the water at our feet.

"Where?"

"The deal is complete," he turned into goldfish jumped into the sea.

"You tricked me!" Percy yelled as he got ready to dive back into the sea, but Thalia held him back, there was something that does not happen normally, normally Thalia has to be restrained.

"Wait!" She pointed into the sea, "what is that?"

Bessie's adorable little calf head broke the surface and she let out a happy moo to see us, "ah, Bessie not now," Percy said as Bessie muzzled up to his foot.

"Well, there's our monster, the Ophiotaurus," I said as I reached down to pat Bessie's head.

"Wait," Percy said, "Bessie? Harmless little Bessie?" Bessie mooed in response

"He says his name isn't Bessie," Grover said quietly.

"You can under stand her, err, him?"

"It's a very old form of animal speech," Grover said, "he prefers to be called the Ophiotaurus."

"The what?" Percy asked.

"It means Serpent Bull," Zoe said, "I am a fool to have forgotten about this story."

"No, you're not," I said as I stared at Bessie, "Coeus purposefully tried to hide any knowledge about the Ophiotaurus, but he missed someone, and that someone broke the spell for his followers."

"Wait, what story?" Percy asked as he loomed between us in confusion, "and who is Coeus?"

"Coeus is my great grandfather, he is the Titan of rational thought, he was neutral in the first Titan war, and is on our side for this one."

"In the late stages of the Titan War," Zoe said, "an ally of the Titans sacrificed the Ophiotaurus, a creature that was the embodiment of innocence. You see, the fates ordained a prophecy eons ago when he was born, they said that whoever killed the Ophiotaurus and sacrificed its entrails to fire would have the power to destroy the Gods."

Bessie was lowing furiously, causing Grover to cringe, "he really doesn't like the word entrails, or sacrifice, or killing."

Thalia sat down on the dock and started stroking Bessie, who shivered in response, Thalia had a strange expression on her face, and it scared me, she looked hungry, "we have to protect him," Percy said breaking the moment of silence, "if Luke gets hold of him…"

"Luke wouldn't hesitate," Thalia to muttered darkly, "the power to overthrow Olympus, that's… that's huge."

"Yes it is, my dear," said the voice of our favourite French accented friend, "and it is a power you shall unleash," Bessie vanished beneath the surface, I cursed myself for being so distracted that I had not noticed the ambush.


	35. Chapter 35

"This is parfait," Thorn gloated, he looked only slightly better than the homeless people. His Westover Hall uniform was stained and torn, he had acquired a filthy trench coat at some point, probably from the same place we got Percy's clothes from. His hair had grown out spiky and greasy, his jaw was covered in silver stubble where he hadn't seen a razor in a few day. He was flanked by four mortal mercenaries, and there were two more on the next dock in case we tried to go that way.

"What about the skeletons?" Percy asked as he looked around the waterfront.

Thorn sneered, "I do not need those foolish undead! The General thinks I am worthless! He will change his mind when I defeat you myself!"

"I have to agree with the General," I said, "you didn't bring Tala with you, so, how did you expect this to go?"

"I did not expect you to be here, but no matter, we are immune to your magic, Tala saw to that. Do not expect to win this time, you could barely fight me with a Goddess on your side. The Gods will finally pay for exiling me to Persia where I had to eat lowly farmers for food. I was never feared or admired, but the Titans, they will respect me, tonight, I dine on Halfblood! How do you expect to fight me when your Goddess is preoccupied?"

Zoë snarled and notched an arrow at his head, the mercenaries raised their guns, I pulled up a shield around us, "wait, Zoë, don't, " Percy called.

"The boy is right Zoë Nightshade," Thorn said smiling at us, his sharp teeth glistening in the sunlight, "put away your bow, it would be a shame if you missed Thalia's great victory."

Thalia looked simultaneously angry and confused, "what do you mean?" She readied her spear and shield.

"Surely it is clear, this is your big moment, this is why Lord Kronos brought you back to life. You will sacrifice the Ophiotaurus. You will bring its entrails to the sacred fire on the mountain. You will gain infinite power. This is your big moment! On your sixteenth birthday you overthrow Olympus!"

No-one spoke, it was a terrible feeling. He was partially right, Thalia was two days from her sixteenth, she was a child of the Big Three, and here was a choice, a terrible choice that could kill the Gods, "snap out of it Thalia," I said to her. "He's just messing with your head."

"I am merely giving her a choice in life," he said, his voice had changed, it was more convincing, calming, trustworthy. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, he was holding a locket he held around his neck, he was using it somehow, he was charm speaking. He signalled and his henchmen raised their guns, they were aiming at the obviously armed Percy and Zoë. I did not want to expose magic in broad daylight, on a pier, in San Francisco, but I was not going to let us die and fail on our quest either, we had few options remaining. "You know it is the right choice, your friend Luke recognised it, you shall be reunited with him. You shall rule the world together under the auspices of the Titans. Your father abandoned you, Thalia, he cares nothing for you, and now you shall gain power over him," he raised his hand and balled it into a fist. "Crush the Olympians underfoot! As they deserve for ignoring their responsibilities whilst crushing humans underfoot! Call the beast! It will come to you! Use your spear and kill it!"

I slapped Thalia.

Thalia cursed and turned her spear towards me, "snap out of it Thalia, he's charmspeaking you, everything he said is a lie, your Dad cares, on the dam he sent you those metal angels when he could have ignored your pleas. On Halfblood hill, he saw your bravery, and was proud, when you fell he turned you into a tree because it was the only way he could preserve you. He cares." I turned to Grover hopefully, he nodded and raised his pipes to his lips and played a jaunty tune, a yell went up from Thorn, it was too late. The planks started growing new branches and tangled up the mercenaries and Thorn. Zoë fired two foul smelling Sulphur arrows at their feet, which caused them to start coughing and spluttering. Thorn fired some tail spikes in our direction, but due to the Sulphurous fumes, they missed by a considerable distance.

"Grover, tell Bessie to dive deep and stay down no matter what," Percy said, which Grover translated, Bessie nodded and sank beneath the waves. Well, I think he nodded, either that or he just bobbed in the water, it it rather hard to tell when you only see a head.

"Come on!" Percy shouted, dragging a still dazed Thalia off the pier, pushing through a flock of tourists who had gathered to see what the commotion was all about, they were not too happy with our crowd control method. Percy pulled us inside a kiosk selling useless tourist tat, like wind chimes, crystals and I love Frisco t-shirts, there was a water fountain next to us, and the sound of hundreds of sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks below. As you looked out to sea you could see the lines of traffic glisten on the Golden Gate bridge with Alcatraz sitting low in the sea mists next to it like a grumpy beetle. It would have been like postcard, except for the fact no-one sends postcards anymore, oh, and the murderous monster and his gun wielding friends trying to kill us.

"Go over the side," Zoë whispered harshly to Percy, "you can escape in the sea Percy. Call thy father for help, maybe you can save the Ophiotaurus."

"I won't leave you guys, we fight together," Percy said as he recovered Riptide from his pocket, he had dropped it in the excitement.

"Percy, we can handle ourselves," I said, "if the worst comes to the worst I will use magic, but even if we fail, word needs to get to camp." Percy muttered something I could not quite catch, then he slashed the top off the water fountain, causing water to spray all over us, which seemed to wake Thalia from whatever trance Thorn put her in.

"Are you crazy?" She asked, then it hit me, he was trying to make a rainbow, I started fishing around in my pockets for a drachma.

Grover beat me to it, he threw a drachma into the rainbows created by the water, "oh Goddess accept my offering, show me Camp Halfblood."

The mist rippled to show us Mr D in a leopard print tracksuit rummaging in a fridge, "do you mind?" He asked lazily as he looked up and saw us.

"Where's Chiron?" Percy asked impatiently, I facepalmed.

'Why did we let Percy speak? Why do we ever let Percy speak?' I thought to myself.

"How rude!" Mr D exclaimed as he took a swig from a jug of grape juice, "is that how you say hello? No good morning, how are you, how have you been?"

"Hello," Percy said begrudgingly from behind gritted teeth, "we're about to die! Where's Chiron?" Mr D considered what Percy said as the Manticore's goons closed in on us.

"About to die? How exciting! I'm afraid Chiron isn't here, would you like me to take a message?" Before Percy could do something stupid, I pushed him out the way.

"Lord Dionysus, we are currently surrounded by human mercenaries in the employ of the Manticore, who, in turn is employed by the General, I assume you know who that is," Mr D shrugged. "We are in a very public place so I can't use my magic, and we have located the bane of Olympus, it is the Ophiotaurus. If we fail here they will sacrifice it and tear down Olympus, prophecy or not, so, please if you don't help us to save us, do it to save yourself."

Mr D studied the contents of the fridge as the mercenaries surrounded us, all six of them raised their guns at us, "you lose mes petits amis," the Manticore said grinning widely.

"Hmm," Mr D was looking at the Manticore directly, "what do you think for a sandwich, pb and j or chicken and mayo?"

"Who are you?" the Manticore growled, "it matters not, kill the others, spare the daughter of Zeus, she will join us soon enough."

The men raised their guns, then there was a massive rush of magic, the sunlight became tinged a sort of deep purple, there was the sudden sweet smell of grapes and the more sour smell of wine. Then there was a massive snap like a giant elastic band had been stretched too far.

The goons all dropped their guns and became insane, one guard started trying to eat a lamppost, whilst two more were playing catch with a grenade, two others decided to start doing the waltz badly, and the final one started doing painful looking contortions. "What is this?" The Manticore asked angrily, he raised his tail at us as vines shot up out of the planks at him and began wrapping themselves around him. By the time he noticed it was too late, his feet were tied to the planks and the vines were climbing up his body, he tore away at them, but they grew faster than he could slash, soon he was covered. As they grew the vines grew leaves and baby grapes that ripened in seconds, the vines grew more and more, thicker and thicker until they stopped shivering, they were still as the Manticore died.

"Well that was fun," Mr D said closing his fridge.

"Thank you Lord Dionysus," I said as Percy looked on awestruck.

"You're welcome, at least one of you has manners, the mortals' condition is temporary, you know rules and reports and all that," he turned to Thalia, "I hope you have learnt your lesson girl, it isn't easy to resist power." Thalia blushed and turned away as if embarrassed.

"The Ophiotaurus, can you get it to Camp?" Percy asked.

Mr D sniffed as sat down in a recliner, "I do not transport livestock, that's your problem. I save you Percy Jackson, don't make me regret it," he waved a hand and the connection ended.

"Um, which way now?" Percy asked.

Zoë pointed at a mountain on the other side of the bay, one which I assumed was Mount Tamalpais, "the garden of my sisters, I must go home."


	36. Chapter 36

Percy went into a public toilet to get changed back into his normal clothing. Whilst he was in there we discussed what to do about Bessie. "We could ask him to go to Camp," I suggested, "from what I know and have guessed he can appear in any body of water, as long as it is large enough for her to survive."

"But thou doest not know what creatures in the ocean may capture him and sacrifice him," Zoë objected, "besides, he may not be able to enter through the barrier as he is a monster, he might need permission to enter."

"What's going on?" Percy asked as he re-emerged from the toilets

I filled him in on what had been discussed, "hmm, he has always followed me, would he even know where to go?"

"So, someone will have to go with him protect him and guide him then," I said.

"I'll go," Grover said which surprised me as he had almost drowned during a trip to the Sea of Monsters, "I'm the only one who can talk to him, it makes sense." Grover bent down and whispered into Bessie's ear, Bessie sank lower into the water, shivered and started making low, happy sounds, "the Blessing of the Wild, that should help with safe passage. Percy pray to your Dad too, see if he'll grant us safe passage through the sea."

Percy knelt next to the sea and started talking, "Dad, help us, get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to Camp, protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that will need a sacrifice," Thalia said, "something big," Bessie sank into the ocean slightly, his eyes wide with alarm.

Percy took off his lion skin coat, "Percy?" Grover asked, "are you sure? That lion skin… that's really useful. Heracles had it."

"If I'm going to survive," he said, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak, I'm not Heracles." He threw the coat into the sea, it turned into a golden lion skin before it vanished with a flash.

"Well, no time to lose," Grover said as he jumped into the sea, and started to sink, Bessie bobbed over and he grabbed on.

"Be careful," Percy said, Grover gave him a mock salute.

"You too, right Bessie, we want to go to Long Island, which is east of here, which is that way," Bessie started submerging, "I can't breath under water, I think I should mention that," with a glug they were gone.

"It's getting late," I said, the sun was starting to set, "we won't make it to the garden before sunset, we need faster transportation, maybe a car."

"Janet's right," Percy said, "we need a car, but there's nobody to help us here, unless we, uh, borrowed one."

"Wait," Thalia said, she took her backpack off her shoulders and started rifling through, "there is somebody in San Francisco who can help us. I've got his address here somewhere."

"Who?" Percy asked.

"Professor Chase, Annabeth's dad."

* * *

Whilst I had my problems with turning up uninvited at someone's house, we were out of ideas, so a short while later we were standing outside a neat little house ringing the doorbell. A man opened the door, I had not been sure what to expect, but it was not this. He was about average height and slightly plump, wearing an antique aviator cap over his hair and a similarly old pair of yellow goggles over his eyes, he looked like he had forgotten to shave for a few days. He was dressed in a rumpled button up white shirt that was buttoned so one side was higher than the other, greyish brown slacks and brown loafers. He was such a jarring sight that we all took a step back, "hello," he said in a happy, if distracted voice that reminded me of Coeus, "are you delivering my aeroplanes?"

We exchanged a look, "um, no, sir?" Percy ventured.

"Drat," he muttered, "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"Right," Percy said looking as totally confused as I felt, "we're friends of Annabeth."

"Annabeth?" He said straightening up like someone had but an ice cube down his shirt, "is she all right? Has something happened?"

No-one answered, but the looks on our faces must have answered for us, he took off his cap and goggle, revealing sandy blond hair like Annabeth and intense brown eyes, he sighed, "you'd better come in."

The house was very different to my own house, despite how long I have lived in my house, it had always felt slightly empty with just the three of us, however, this house felt lived in, despite the fact they had only moved in last summer, there were little figurines made of blocks on the stairs, and there were two cats sleeping on the sofa, the coffee table was covered in magazines with subjects ranging from old planes to toys to comics. The whole house was permeated by the smell of cookies that smelt like they could have rivalled Cobblepot's, and slow jazz wafted from the kitchen, the house was messy and happy, so different to our tidy home.

"Dad!" a little boy shouted from another room, "he's taking apart my robots!"

"Bobby!" Dr Chase called absently, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"I'm Bobby," the voice protested, "he's Matthew!"

"Matthew," Dr Chase called wearily, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"Okay Dad!" The reply came quieter than the rest of the conversation.

"We'll go upstairs to my study, this way," Dr Chase said smiling apologetically.

"Honey?" A female voice called, Annabeth's stepmother stepped out the kitchen, she was a pretty woman of Asian descent with red highlighted hair tied up into a bun. "Who are our guests?"

"Oh," he said as he wrinkled his brow in thought, "this is…"

I stepped in to save Dr Chase from embarrassment, "hello, I'm Janet Harker, pleased to meet you, this is Zoë Nightshade, Thalia Grace and Percy Jackson," I said introducing each of us in turn.

"Fredrick, you should have asked them their names, it's very rude not to, are you hungry?" Percy's stomach choose that moment to rumble, she smiled, "I'll get you some snacks, do you like cookies and soda?" We nodded in agreement.

"Dear, they came about Annabeth," Dr Chase said, she pursed her lips in a worried expression.

"All right, go on up to the study, and I'll bring you some food," she smiled at Percy, "nice to meet you, Percy, I've heard a lot about you," Percy blushed.

Percy's response to Dr Chase's study basically summed up the room "whoa!" The room looked like a dream to me, wall to wall books, books on rows on shelves, books piled on the floor, books piled on rows of books on shelves. The middle of the room was dominated by a massive table with a WWI battlefield, there were trenches, craters, poisoned bushes, tanks, soldiers, even a little river, and above it all hung from the ceiling were biplanes engaged in combat, they were tilted at crazy angles like they were in dogfights.

"Yes, the Third battle of Ypres," Dr Chase said proudly, as he fiddled with a figurine. "I'm writing a paper on it, you see, on the use of the Sopwith Camels to strafe enemy lines, I believe they played a much greater role than they've been given credit for." He plucked a plane from its string and started making engine noises as he knocked down little German soldiers.

"Oh, right," Percy said and then stood their like a lemon as he tried to think of something to say, his mouth hanging open slightly at the sight of a grown man playing with toys.

Zoë stepped up to the table, she studied it, "the German lines were further from the river."

"How do you know that?" He asked in amazement.

"I was there, Artemis wanted to show us how horrible war was, the way mortal men fight each other, and how foolish too, the battle was a complete waste."

Dr Chase opened his mouth in shook, "you -"

"She's a hunter, they don't age," I said, Dr Chase looked extremely excited, "but that isn't important, Annabeth is in danger," that got his attention.

We told him the condensed version of what happened, leaving out my quest and other such peripherals. Dr Chase collapsed into an old beat up leather recliner, his head in his hands, and sighed, "my poor brave Annabeth, we must hurry."

"Sir, we need transportation to Mount Tamalpais," Zoë said, "and we need it immediately."

"I'll drive you, hmm, it would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seat two."

"Whoa, you have an actual biplane?" Percy said excitedly.

"Down at Crissy Field," Dr Chase said proudly, "that's the reason I had to move here, my sponsor is a private collector with some of the finest World War I relics in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel -"

"Sir," Thalia interrupted, "just a car would be great, and it might be better if we went without you, it's too dangerous."

Dr Chase frowned uncomfortably, "now wait a minute young lady, Annabeth is my daughter, dangerous or not, I, I can't just -"

"Snacks," Mrs Chase said happily, as she entered carrying a tray of sandwiches, soft drinks, and gooey cookies. We set to work on the snacks (and yes, the cookies could rival Cobblepot's) as Zoë tried to talk Dr Chase into letting her us his car, the talking mostly involved promises to try not to destroy his car, which he seemed to doubt. "What's this about?" Mrs Chase asked as she knitted her eyebrows.

"Annabeth is in danger on Mount Tam, I would drive them, but apparently it is no place for mortals."

Mrs Chase frowned, "then they'd better get going."

"Right," Dr Chase said patting his pockets, "my keys are…"

Mrs Chase sighed, "Fredrick, honestly, you'd lose your hat if it was not wrapped up in your aviator hat, the keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."

"Right!" Dr Chase exclaimed.

Zoë grabbed a sandwich, "thank you both, we should get going, now!" She hustled us out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind us.

"Percy," Mrs Chase called as Zoë grabbed the keys off the peg, "tell Annabeth. Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that," I took one last look at this messy, happy home that smelt of cookies as we left and climbed into the yellow convertible as I buckled up for my first drive in a car that was not also a flying chariot.

San Francisco was full of cars, whilst it was faster than walking we often found ourselves stuck in queues of cars, which made Zoë and Thalia bicker, "can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia shouted in frustration as we trundled along behind a small car who did not appear in too much of a hurry.

"I cannot control traffic!" Zoë glared at her.

"You both sound like my mother," Percy commented.

"Shut up!" They both shouted in sync, see how this was going to take a while, I decided to go to sleep.


	37. Chapter 37

I was woken up by Percy jabbing me in the ribs, "we're on Mount Tam," I yawned and stretched, we had turned off the wide roads of San Francisco and were instead on narrow country roads. "Why does everything smell like cough drops?" Percy asked as we got closer to the top.

"Eucalyptus," Zoë said pointing to the huge trees planted at the side of the road.

"The stuff koala bears eat?"

"And monsters, they love chewing the leaves, especially dragons."

"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?" Percy asked in surprise.

"Believe me," Zoë said, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too," that shut Percy up, well for a while at least.

"So, that's the mountain of despair?"

"Yes," Zoë said sounding more than a little fed up with Percy.

"Why's it called that?"

Zoë was silent for almost two minutes before answering, "after the war between the Titans and the Gods, many Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus, Kronos' right hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"The General," Percy said quietly, I looked at the summit, it looked like slow moving tornado was trapped up there as the clouds swirled around the peak. "What's going on up there? A storm?" Zoë did not answer, but from the pained expression on her face I guessed she knew exactly what it was.

"We have to concentrate," Thalia said, "the Mist is really strong up here."

"The magical kind or the mortal kind?" Percy asked.

"Both," I said as I concentrated on the background magic, "and magic is acting strangely, I don't like this."

"Look!" Percy shouted in horror.

"What?" Thalia asked ready-ing her spear.

"A big white ship, docked near the beach, it looked like a cruise ship."

"Luke's here," I said, "the Mist would have turned away any mortal captain before he got that close," the hair on the back of my neck went up.

"Stop the car, NOW!" Thalia shouted, Zoë slammed on the brakes, sending us spinning, we stopped just before the cliff. Thalia tackled Zoë out the car whilst I pushed out Percy, I barely got a shield up before, with a great flash of light and a massive boom that could probably be heard back in San Francisco, the little yellow convertible exploded as it was hit by lightening.

"You saved my life," Percy said to me as he swallowed nervously.

"I noticed," I said.

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Thalia muttered, "curse him, he would destroy me? Me?"

"That might not have been your Dad," I said, "lots of wizards can summon lightning, I can, Tala can and we know she works for Kronos."

"No," Thalia said angrily, shaking her head, "that's not it."

"Shush," Zoë hushed us, "you'll wake Ladon."

"Are we're there yet?" Percy asked nervously.

"Very close, follow me," she slunk off into fog, she stepped into the Mist and was gone, I followed, and a minute later so did Percy and Thalia who were having a whispered conversation, when the Mist cleared we were still on the mountain, but the road was dirt and the grass was thicker and longer, the sunset reflected as a red gash on the ocean's surface. The top of the mountain was closer now, swirling with clouds and so much power that it almost physically hurt.

The road led to the top of the mountain, it led us straight through a garden full of silvery grass, the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen, and shadows that formed shapes like animals and flowers, but disappeared when you looked at them. In the middle was the centre piece, surrounded by polished black granite stepping stones was an apple tree taller than the Whomping Willow. The tree was heaving under the golden apples that hung from its branches, by golden, I mean polished gold with each apple being worth a fortune, we had arrived in the Garden of Twilight.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia said, "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus," the apples looked delicious, I would have tried to eat one, if it were not for the massive dragon curled around the trunk. By dragon I mean a seriously massive dragon. Its emerald green body was as thick as I was tall, it had at least a hundred python heads, all curled together like spaghetti as it slept on the grass, all eyes closed, and venom dripping from its mouths. The shadows moved as a beautiful, eerie singing in a dead language started, the shadows coalesced into the shapes of four figures and then shimmered, revealing four girls. They looked about the same age as Zoë did, their skin was the colour of caramel, and loose silky black hair flowed over their plain white chitons, and they were just as beautiful as Zoë, they were definitely all sisters.

"Sisters," Zoë said emotionlessly.

"We do not see any sister," one girl said coldly, "we see a Hunter and three Halfbloods, all of whom shall soon die."

"You've got it wrong," Percy said stepping forward, "nobody is going to die."

The four girls studied us in silence, they had eerie pure black eyes, "Percy Jackson," one said.

"Yes," another said, "I do not see why he is a threat."

"Hello, we're still here," I said.

All four turned to me, "Janet Harker," the third said.

"Pretty little thing, but not a threat," the fourth said dismissively.

"Every rose has its thorns," I said sweetly.

"They fear thee," the first said to Percy, "they are unhappy that this one has not killed thee yet," she pointed at Thalia.

'Antique English runs in the family it seems,' I thought to myself.

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted, "but no thanks, he's my friend."

"There are no friends here daughter of Zeus, only enemies, go back."

"Not without Annabeth," Thalia said.

"And Artemis," Zoë said angrily, "we must approach the mountain."

"You know he will kill thee," one said sounding almost sad, "you are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed," Zoë insisted, "let us pass."

One girl shook her head, "you have no rights here any more, we only have to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoë said.

"No?" The girl sounded like she was about to laugh, "and what about thy so-called friends?"

Then Zoë did something stupid, like Percy levels of stupid, she shouted. "Ladon, wake!"

Ladon stirred like a mountain of jewels was moving, "are you mad?" Shouted the lead girl as they scattered into shadows.

"You never had any courage sisters," Zoë said, "that is thy problem."

Ladon was awake now, a hundred heads wiped around to glare at us, a hundred tongues tasted the air, Zoë stepped forward arms raised, "Zoë don't!" Thalia shouted, "you're not a Hesperide any more, he'll kill you."

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoë said nervously, "skirt round the edges of the garden, go up the mountain, as long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee."

"Should?" Percy said, "not exactly reassuring."

"It is the only way," she said, "even the four of us together cannot fight him."

Ladon opened his mouths and one hundred heads hissed at us, it sent shivers down my spine, then I smelt his breath. Dragon morning breath is a horrible smell. It was acidic. It made my eyes water. My head hurt. My lungs felt like they were burning. It smelt worse than the ogre in first year, or the basilisk's lair in second year, it was horrifying. Then mixed with it was the sickly smell of eucalyptus, it did nothing to mask the smell, in fact it seemed to actually amplified it by providing a reference point to compare it too. Thalia went left, Percy and I went right. Zoë was trying to talk to the dragon, but it did not work. I watched him snap at her, she dodged endless sets of gnashing teeth, Percy stepped forward, I stopped him.

"Allow me," I said, I grabbed a hold of the air and used it to catapult Zoë over Ladon, who snapped as she went over, barely missing her, she landed in a roll next to us. Thalia waved Aegis in Ladon's face, he hissed and pulled away, we ran up the mountain, Ladon did not pursue. The Hesperides carried on their singing, but it was no longer as beautiful, more like a funeral march.


	38. Chapter 38

At the top of the mountain were ruins, dozens of them, fallen columns, collapsed roofs, randomly distributed lumps of granite and marble, half melted statues larger even than Ladon. "The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia said. We were all on edge, me especially, Mount Othrys had always been a place that the very name scared me as a child, it was like the Greek bogeyman, if you were bad you would get taken away to Othrys and eaten by Atlas.

"Yes," Zoë said, paling at the sight, "it was not here before, this is bad."

"What's Mount Othrys?" Percy asked.

"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoë said, "in the first war, Othrys and Olympus were the two rival capitals of the world, Othrys -" she winced and clutched her side.

"You're hurt, let me see," Percy said.

"No! It was nothing, I was saying… in the first war Othrys was blasted to pieces."

"But how is it here?" Thalia asked as she jumped as Percy's shadow shifted over her face as we secured the area.

"The same way Olympus is here," I said, as we cautiously made our way past blocks, broken arches, random columns and dead trees, "it moves, like Olympus. Normally it stays on the edge of civilisation, last I heard it was somewhere up in the frozen wastes of Northern Canada. The fact it has moved is bad, the fact it is here is even worse."

"Why?"

"This is Atlas' mountain, it's where he holds up the sky, held up the sky," I amended. We had reached the summit, ahead of us was Artemis holding up the sky. She still looked twelve, she looked tired, her face red from exertion, her dress was ragged and she was bound in chains.

"My Lady," Zoë called as she rushed forward to her side.

"Stop, it's a trap," Artemis called, "it's a trap," her voice was strained, and she was drenched in sweat, I had never seen a God in pain before, but obviously the pain of holding the sky was too much. Zoë rushed forward and tugged at the chains.

"Ah how touching," rumbled a deep booming voice, a battlefield voice, the voice that is used to being heard and obeyed. Atlas was standing behind us in a brown silk suit, he was huge, well over eight foot tall and heavily muscled. His shoulders were so wide if you did not realise who he was you might have assumed he was wearing shoulder pads, his hands looked like they could snap an old oak tree without any difficulty. His face looked like he had been beaten repeatedly with a frying pan, his nose had been broken so many times it had been squashed almost flat, his eyes were hard and purely black, not black irises, black everything, like the Hesperides, he had military style brown hair, cut close to his scalp. By his side was Luke and half a dozen Dracaenae snake women carrying the sarcophagus containing Kronos. At their feet was Annabeth bound and gagged, Luke had the point of his bronze and steel sword to her throat, she had gained a grey streak in her hair from holding up the sky.

"Luke," Thalia called, "let her go."

"That is the General's decision Thalia, but it's good to see you again," Luke said smiling. He looked awful, not just because he was Luke, but also because he was so wan and pale and his smile was weak and sickly. Thalia spat at him.

Atlas laughed, "so much for old friends, and you Zoë, it's been a long time, how is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Do not respond," Artemis hissed through gritted teeth, "do not challenge him."

"Wait a second," Percy shouted cutting off Atlas, "you're Atlas?" He sounded a little confused, bless Percy, he means well, but he is not the brightest banana in the bunch.

Atlas barely glanced at Percy, "so, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out." Percy blushed whilst frowning angrily at Atlas, although, it made me think a rat trying to stand up to a rottweiler, a little funny, but ultimately the stand-off lasted until the rottweiler grew bored. "Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods, congratulations, I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

"You're not going to hurt Zoë," Percy said as he raised his sword and slid into a sword fighting position, "I won't let you."

Atlas sneered contemptuously, "you have no right to interfere little hero, this is a family matter."

Percy lowered the tip of his sword and frowned in confusion, "a family matter?"

"Yes," Zoë said glumly, keeping her glare on Atlas as she tried to burn holes in his head with her eyes, "Atlas is my father."

"That doesn't matter," I said, everyone turned to me, except the ever glowering Zoë, "we are all family, Atlas you trying to take over the world is a family matter. You are trying to kill my cousins and destroy my Mother, these are family matters, we are all entitled to take part in this."

Atlas laughed, "little witch, you are going to have a part in all this, your lifeblood and that of your friends will increase the rate at which my brother returns from the Pit."

"Let Artemis go," Zoë shouted.

Atlas walked to Artemis' side and stared at her in creepy fascination, made worse by the fact she still looked like a tiny twelve year old girl, and he was a massive man who was well over eight foot tall. "Perhaps you'd like to take the sky for her? Be my guest."

Zoë opened her mouth, but Artemis shouted first. "No! Do not offer Zoë! I forbid you." Atlas smirked in amusement as he crouched next to Artemis, he tried to stroke her face, she almost bit his fingers.

Atlas chuckled, "you see daughter? Lady Artemis likes her new job. I think I'll have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden, once Lord Kronos rules again of course, and this is the centre of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility."

There was a slightly awkward pause as his eyes glazed over at the thought of power, "I don't understand," Percy said. "Why can't Artemis just let go of the sky?" He asked, Thalia and I facepalmed whilst Zoë rolled her eyes.

Atlas laughed, "how little you understand, young one, this is the point where the sky and earth first met, where Ouranos and Gaia first brought forth their mighty children, the Titans." I thought about that for a moment before shuddering in revulsion at the implications. "The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush down upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything within a hundred leagues. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape," he smiled insanely, "unless someone else takes it from you."

He approached us and stared intensely at Percy and Thalia, "so these are the best heroes of the age eh? Not much of a challenge."

"Fight us," Percy growled, "and let's see."

"Have the Gods taught you nothing?" Atlas thundered, "an immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly, it is beneath my dignity, I will have Luke crush you instead."

"So, you're another coward then?" Percy taunted the Titan, Percy's ability to say the wrong things to the wrong people had always astounded me, but this was a new level of stupid.

Atlas' eyes literally glowed with hatred as he turned to Thalia, "as for you, daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you."

"I wasn't wrong," Luke said, he looked and sounded horribly weak, the scar over his left eye looked like it had been reopened recently as it was swollen and red. "Thalia, you can still join us," he pleaded, "call the Ophiotaurus, it will come to you, look," he waved his hand and pool ringed in black marble appeared, it looked like an old fashioned reflecting pool, it was just large enough for Bessie. "Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus, and you will be more powerful than the Gods."

"Luke…" Thalia said with tears in her eyes and a voice that sounded like she was in physical pain, "what happened to you?"

"Don't you remember all those times we talked? All those times we cursed the Gods? Our fathers have done nothing for us, they have no right to rule the world!"

Thalia shook her head, "free Annabeth, let her go."

"If you join me, it can be like old times, the three of us together, fighting for a better world. Please Thalia, if you don't agree…" his voice faltered and he swallowed nervously, "it's my last chance. He will use the other way if you don't agree, please!" Luke sounded genuinely scared, I had no clue what he meant and I was not going to use legilimency this close to a Titan to find out.

"Do not Thalia," Zoë commanded, "we must fight them."

Luke waved his hand again and a lit brazier appeared, its fires burned green, it was a sacrificial fire, the kind outlawed in almost all magical communities.

"Thalia," Percy said, his voice faltering a little, "don't do it, please."

Behind Luke, Kronos' sarcophagus began to glow and the mists, both magical and mundane started to shift around and form into the shape of columns and arches. Slowly but surely, a misty palace formed, it was both terrible and beautiful, brutal and delicate, warlike and peaceful, it scared me. "We will raise Mount Othrys right here," Luke promised in a strained voice, "once more it will be stronger and greater than Olympus, look Thalia, we are not weak by any measure." He pointed down at the beach, we all looked, there was an army. The army was formed from a nightmare, Cyclops, Harpies, Demigods, Dracanae, Dwarves, Hellhounds, Laestrygonians, even some Dementor like creatures, and more things than I could put a name to. "This is only a taste of what is to come, soon we will be ready to storm Camp Halfblood, and after that Olympus itself, all we need is your help."

Thalia stared at him, her eyes wet with tears, "you aren't Luke, I don't know you anymore."

"Yes, you do, Thalia," he pleaded, "please, don't make me… don't make him destroy you." We had no time to talk anymore, if the army got to the top of the hill this was all over, Percy met our eyes.

"Now!" Percy called, we charged.


	39. Chapter 39

Thalia went for Luke, Aegis raised, the sight of the shield was enough to make the Dracanae guarding Kronos to flee and even Luke looked like he wanted to be elsewhere. Percy and Zoë went for Atlas, meanwhile Tala had vanished so I made my way over to the edge of the mountain top. The monstrous army was drawing nearer, "I have to stop them," I muttered to myself, the path they were following at one point became very narrow. I reached out with magic and pulled blocks of rock out the side of the mountain and sent them crashing down the mountain side, squashing monsters, causing some to flee, but most importantly I destroyed the narrow part of the path. I heard movement behind me and instinctively raised a shield, I turned just as Tala's fist hit the barrier, causing me to stumble.

"Hello again little girl, now we find ourselves fighting yet again," she cloaked her fist in fire and punched at my shield, which was beginning to crack. I responded by summoning fire to hit her directly in the face, she screeched as the fire caught in her hair and she summoned water from the mist to put it out, I rolled out the way and jumped out of her reach. I commanded the earth beneath her to catapult her into the air, Tala flew, she was caught by surprise by the sudden acceleration of the ground beneath her feet. She was in the air for several seconds before she landed with enough force to create a small crater, she pulled herself to her feet, as she did so I noticed her right arm was still not moving right after our encounter in Paris. Tala's face was covered in cuts and bruises, and her nose was bleeding slightly, but aside from that she appeared uninjured from her short flight. "I will destroy you little girl and you have no knight in shining armour to save you this time."

There was a sharp crack of someone apparating, "how about a wizard in a suit?" A voice asked, we turned to face the source of the voice, it was the Clock, he was sitting on a rock with an old six shooter in his hand. "I believe you are outnumbered my dear and outgunned."

Tala laughed, "your pathetic little gun will do nothing mortal, now run along, this is between me and her," the Clock shot, there was a thunderous sound, but the bullet bounced of Tala, who did not even flinch. "I told you, now begone."

"No, I was sent to find out what was going on up here and stop it, and that is what I intend to do demon, **conjuro fulguris.** " The lightning hit Tala square in the chest, sending her flying into one of the pillars, which were no longer just mist, they were real, I looked around in horror as I realised that brick by brick Mount Othrys was being rebuilt. "Probably not the best idea to fight a duel in a place so full of magic, especially when you have two opponents, **conjuro fulguris** ," he cast, knocking Tala down as she tried to stand up.

"Rise!" Tala shouted, a hand grabbed the Clock's ankle, it was huge four fingered hand, soon another one appeared and then a head, and soon a huge golem, well over twelve feet tall had pulled itself from the ground, and was fighting the Clock. "Now back to you and me little girl," she said as she pulled herself up, she was a little charred and her hair was standing on end, she appeared to have also injured her ankle and was limping slightly, meaning she was not invulnerable.

" **Expelliarmus** ," I cast wandlessly, Tala shielded herself and returned fire with a variety of nasty curses, I dove behind a pillar as the curses fizzled by. I summoned several fireballs behind her, and launched them at her, they hit causing her to stumble forward, I activated my sword and used the air to launch her towards me. I swung at her, she twisted and my sword struck her already injured right shoulder, she screeched as the sword bit deep.

She landed in a heap nearby and painfully got to her feet, "I will kill you little girl," she growled as her right arm hung limply at her side, the wound bleeding black blood, I looked at my sword in surprise. "Kill her!" She shouted to something behind me, I turned to see the giant golem charging towards me, the Clock clinging to its back and trying to stab it with a dagger. I ran out the way, the golem turned with surprising agility and charged towards me again, I cursed and ran, I ran around the mountain top, passing Thalia and Luke duelling. Passing Atlas fighting Zoë and Artemis, who had swapped places with Percy. Passing Percy dripping with sweat under the weight of the sky. As I ran I tried to remember how to kill a golem, they were not Greek in origin, they were Jewish, I turned over everything I could remember as I tried to remember how to stop a golem.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I tripped and slid across the ground, skinning my knees and hands, my sword was now out my reach, as was my book which held the answers I was looking for. I turned to face the golem, then I noticed three symbols on its head אמת, I then remembered, they meant truth, you remove the last on and it means death. " **E** **xpulso** ," the spell hit the golem and the symbol exploded, the golem stopped and crumbled into pieces, I breathed a sigh of relief as I lay there panting, I heard the Clock land on the pile of golem dust.

He stood and dust himself down, "well, that was fun, now let's get that demon."

I groaned as I hauled myself to my feet, as I did so a massive bellow shook the mountain. "NOOOO! NOT AGAIN!" We turned to see Atlas holding up the sky.

"I think we've won," the Clock said as we walked over to where I left Tala.

As expected she had left long before, but there was a message burnt into the ground: _Next time Halfling_. "Hmm, this needs to be reported immediately," the Clock said, his voice sounding strained, "hm, I'll tell the Commissioner, she won't be happy about this. See you next time young hero," he apparated away.

I walked over to Percy and Thalia, I watched Thalia kick Luke, causing him to stumble and fall off the side, I heard a shout from below and a sudden roaring of hundreds of monsters. I created a shield as hundreds of javelins flew at us, I looked over edge, Luke's unmoving, broken form lay fifteen metres below. Percy grabbed the crying form of Thalia and we ran passed the spluttering and cursing form of Atlas and to the rocks where Artemis and Annabeth were kneeling over the unmoving Zoë. "Artemis!" Percy called, the goddess, now looking like a fully grown woman rather than a twelve year old girl, looked up, her eyes shining with tears. She was holding Zoë in her arms, Zoë's breathing was laboured, her eyes were barely held open and her face was grey as if all the colour had drained out of her.

"The wound is poisoned," Artemis said sadly, "too much for me to heal here."

"Atlas poisoned her?" Percy asked.

"Ladon," I said as I felt tears welling in my eyes "she did get bitten," I turned her to look at her side, there was a few scratches that had swollen and were turning green. The wounds themselves were small, but it was the poison killing her, not the wound.

"The stars," Zoë said weakly, "I can't see the stars." I looked up, the mist hid the stars, I summoned the wind and blew the mist away, Zoë smiled weakly.

"Nectar and ambrosia," Percy said, "come on, we have to get her some," nobody moved, we knew it was pointless. We all stood their as the army of monsters lumbered up the side of the hill, they were almost at the top, but we stood there in silence, the only sound was the marching monsters, the wind, and a weird buzzing.


	40. Chapter 40

Just as the monsters crested the hill and roared in triumph I was saved by my weirdest cavalry to date. So far in my life I have been saved by some weird things, such as a religious fanatic in magic armour, a man in a white hood, a Confederate ironclad, a random Frenchman with a sword, Snape, Mr D, that Satyr in a kilt and a wig from Idaho, but this was probably my weirdest. A Sopwith Camel piloted by a Professor of History swooped out of the clouds and opened fire on the monsters, Mr Chase was here to save the day, "get away from my daughter!" he shouted as the bullet holes got nearer to the monsters. They made no move to dodge the bullets or shield themselves as they expected the mortal metal to pass straight through them, instead they exploded into cloud of dust, by the time they realised what was happening and recovered a good couple of dozen had been vaporised.

"Dad?" Annabeth shouted in surprise.

"Run!" He called, his voice becoming fainter as he swooped away.

"A brave man," Artemis said approvingly, "come, we must get Zoë away from here." Artemis raised a hunting horn to her lips and blew it creating a sound that could probably be heard back in San Francisco. Percy was talking quietly to Zoë, I was not paying attention, I was busier dealing with the occasional monster who had a brain and had brought a bow, so was now shooting at the plane, if a monster raised a bow I shot a fireball at them to distract them. My efforts were not enough, despite their initial surprise the monsters were regrouping, especially the more disciplined groups like the Dracanae and Demigods, Mr Chase was going to be in trouble soon.

Out of the moonlight a chariot galloped, it was pure silver and was drawn by the most beautiful does I had ever seen, it landed behind us, "get in," Artemis commanded. We climbed aboard what must have been the Chariot of the Moon, Artemis and I covered our retreat with bow and magic as Percy and Thalia loaded Zoë onto the chariot.

"Like Santa Claus' sleigh," Percy muttered as we sped away off the mountainside and out into the night, seeing us safely away from the mountain Mr Chase circled away and joined us as we flew over the San Francisco bay. We must have been quite a sight, a chariot pulled by deer and an almost one hundred year old biplane flying over the bay, making us the second weirdest things to fly into the San Francisco in the past week, after two giant metal angels carrying four kids.

We landed at Crissy Field at some late hour, I had not been keeping track, but the sun had well and truly set, when Mr Chase landed his plane and stepped out he was greeted by a big hug from Annabeth, "Dad! You flew... you shot… oh my Gods! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

Mr Chase blushed, "well, not bad for a middle-ages mortal, I suppose."

"But, the celestial bronze bullets, how did you get those?"

"Ah well, you did leave quite a few Halfblood weapons in your room in Virginia, the last time you… left," his voice hitched a little on the last word and Annabeth looked down in embarrassment. "I decided to try melting some down to make bullet casings, just a little experiment," he smiled fondly at his daughter, of course he had, he had an inquisitive tendency that had attracted the Goddess of Wisdom.

"Dad…" Annabeth faltered.

"Annabeth, Percy, Janet," Thalia interrupted, her voice urgent, she was kneeling at Zoë's side with Artemis binding her wounds. We ran over to help, but we could do nothing, we had no nectar, no ambrosia, no mortal medicine would help, and I was not a healer. Zoë did not look good, she was shivering and her usual glow had been replaced with a sort of cloud that made her look darker than the grass.

"Can't you heal her with magic?" Percy asked Artemis, "I mean… you're a Goddess."

Artemis frowned, "life is a fragile thing Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do, but I can try."

She tried to put her hands on Zoë, but the huntress grabbed her wrist and looked into her eyes.

"Have I… served thee well?" Zoë asked in a laboured voice.

"With great honour," Artemis said quietly, "the finest of my attendants."

Zoë's face relaxed, "rest, at last."

"I can try to heal the poison my brave one," Artemis said hard-heartedly, but we knew it was not the poison that was killing her, it was the fight with Atlas, her father's fury and hatred, her weariness with life, everything.

She took Thalia's hand and looked her in the eye, "I am sorry we argued, we could have been sisters," she said in a voice that was now barely more than a whisper.

"It's my fault," Thalia said, her eyes wet and her voice strained, "you were right about Luke, about heroes, men - everything."

"Perhaps not all men," Zoë said quietly as she smiled weakly at Percy, "do you still have the sword Percy?" Percy handed Riptide to Zoë, she held it contentedly, "you spoke the truth Percy Jackson. You are nothing like… Heracles. I am honoured that you carry this sword." She looked at me, her face old and tired, "Janet, that was a good trick you pulled on me back in the forest, it has been a long time since I was tricked like so, you should be proud."

A shudder ran through her body, "Zoë - " Percy cried out.

"Stars," she whispered, "I can see the stars my lady."

A solitary tear ran down Artemis' face, "yes my brave one, they are beautiful tonight."

"Stars," Zoë said as she stared up at the sky, I watched as her eyes glazed over and the hand still holding Thalia's went slack. Thalia started openly crying whilst Annabeth gulped down a sob, her father resting a hand on her shoulder, Percy looked about ready to march back up that mountain to punch Atlas in the face. I really wanted to blow up something, preferable something containing monsters and if he had survived, Luke. I watched as Artemis cupped a hand over Zoë's mouth and muttered quietly in Greek, a single silver strand of smoke slipped from Zoe's slack mouth into Artemis' waiting hand. Zoe's body shimmered and faded from sight. Artemis stood and said a simple blessing, she opened her hand, the silver smoke flew from her hand and vanished. For a while nothing happened, then Annabeth looked up and gasped, a new constellation had appeared in the sky, it looked like a figure holding a bow, running in the sky. "Let the world honour you my huntress, live forever in the sky."

Artemis started flickering with silver light, which meant she was about to go fully divine, which could vaporise us instantly, "I must go up to Olympus immediately, I will not be able to take you, but I will send help." She turned to Annabeth, "you are brave beyond measure my girl, you will do what is right." She then turned to Thalia and the two appeared to stare each other down, before she turned to me. "You would do well in the Hunt, I always need more huntresses, especially one as unique as you, but I feel your life takes you elsewhere." She turned to Percy, "you did well, for a man," she got on her chariot, we averted our eyes and with a flash, she was gone.

"Well," Mr Chase said with a sigh to try and break the silence, "she was impressive, though I must say I still prefer Athena."

Annabeth turned to her father, her eyes glistening slightly in the moonlight, "Dad, I… I'm sorry that - "

"Shh," he pulled into a hug, "do what you must my dear, I know this isn't easy for you." His voice was a little sad and a little shaky, but he covered it behind a brave smile.

There was a swooping sound and four pegasi appeared out the fog and landed next to us, one pure black, two speckled and Skippy the wonder horse, "Blackjack!" Percy called as he saw them, Blackjack whinnied at him, "it was rough," he replied, causing the all four to whinny, "nah, these are my friends, we need to get to Olympus pretty fast." Blackjack whinnied again, "of course, Dr Chase is staying here, he's got to get home, don't you Doc?"

Dr Chase was staring open-mouthed at the pegasi, "such manoeuvrability! How does the wingspan compensate for the weight of the horse's body I wonder?" Blackjack cocked his head and made a very confused snort, "why if the British had these pegasi in the cavalry charges in the Crimea, the charge of the Light Brigade - "

"Dad!" Annabeth interrupted.

Dr Chase blinked, he looked at his daughter and managed a sad smile, "I'm sorry my dear, I know you must go," he gave her one last awkward hug. As she climbed onto one of the pegasi he spoke again, "Annabeth, I know… I know San Francisco is a dangerous place for you, but please remember you will always have a home with us, we will keep you safe." Annabeth did not say anything as she turned away, but in the darkness I saw a tear glisten. Dr Chase opened his mouth to speak again, but evidently thought better of it, instead he raised his hand in farewell and walked off across the dark field. Percy, Thalia and I climbed aboard our pegasi, I naturally got Skippy, who was not as frisky as I remembered. he had probably been told to be on his best behaviour, we took off from Crissy field and within minutes San Francisco was a faint light hidden by mountains.

We flew for hours, Percy and Annabeth were talking quietly in a way that made me not want to join in, meanwhile Thalia was clinging to her pegasus her eyes squeezed shut in fright. So, I sat on Skippy and watched the landscape fly by, we passed over towns, villages and cities, sudden patches of light and sound in a sea of darkness and silence.


	41. Chapter 41

We reached New York just as the sun started to rise, turning the eastern sky a sickly grey, which melted into a dim red as the sun rose higher. New York was like a lake of light beneath Olympus which was lit by torch and brazier an island of light and gleaming marble floating above the Empire State Building. "There it is," Thalia said sitting up as we got near, her fear of heights momentarily forgotten, "it's started."

"What's started?" Percy asked.

"The winter solstice, the Council of the Gods," Thalia said grimly, she realised the Gods were probably discussing her fate, and would most likely vote to smite her.

We circled Olympus once as the pegasi gained enough altitude to reach the gates, the early morning light was too weak to light the mountain so thousands of magic torches and braziers lit the mountain twenty different colours from blood red to royal purple. Apparently Olympus was as sleepless as the city it hovered over. The twisted streets reminded me of London's back alleys and were full of Demigods, Nature Spirits, Minor Gods and the occasional Cyclopes carrying heavy loads or pulling carts. Despite the weather all the gardens were in full bloom as exotic plants and flowers grew happily in the frigid morning air. Music drifted on the air, ranging from lyres and pipes to guitars and drums, the sounds merged into a pool of sound that you could listen to as a whole or focus on one sound, like fragments of a shattered melody.

We landed at the gates of Olympus, which were two thirty foot tall silver gates, the pegasi flew off and left us there. I was a rather scared, the only Olympians I had met were Mr D, Artemis and Apollo, but from what Annabeth had told me Ares was arrogant, Aphrodite could not be trusted and Zeus was, well, Zeus. The gates opened before we could knock on them, we walked down the wide central street, I suddenly realised how out of place we were, four travel worn Demigods walking down the streets with all the beautiful, well dressed people of Olympus. I started for the first time in my life to feel self conscious, I had never really cared what people had thought of me in the past, but suddenly I cared and I did not like it.

The twelve thrones of Olympus were arranged around a central hearth in the same way the cabin in Camp were arranged, the ceiling glittered with stars and constellations, including the newest one, Zoë the Huntress. The Gods were each five metres tall and they all turned to face us at once, let me tell you, having twelve of the most powerful beings in the world turn to you at once makes dealing with Atlas seem like a piece of cake. When the initial shock subsided I noticed there were some normal sized people in the room, there was a deathly pale man robed in black in the shadow of Zeus' throne, he must have been Hades, there was a young girl who must have been Hestia tending the flames of the hearth. The only other non-God was Grover, who was kneeling in front of Zeus' throne with Bessie floating nearby in a bubble. Bessie was the only one enjoying himself in the room, the novelty of floating in a magic bubble was not lost on the Ophiotaurus, so he floated happily in his bubble, occasionally mooing happily as he made himself at home.

"You made it!" Grover shouted, he started to run towards us and then remembered where he was and turned back to Zeus.

"Go on," the Lord of the Skies said waving him on, he was not paying attention he was having a staring match with his daughter (Thalia, not Athena or Artemis).

Grover's hooves clopping on the marble floor was the only sound to be heard in the silent throne room, "Percy, Bessie and I made it!"

"I noticed," I commented, Grover rolled his eyes, but smiled good naturedly

"The Council has been informed of recent events," Zeus boomed, "particularly your heroics and Atlas' attempted escape to freedom, and were in the middle of debating a resolution."

"As I was saying before I was interrupted," Hades said in a voice that was barely more than a whisper, as though being out the Underworld had weakened him. "This is not Atlas' first escape attempt and will certainly not be his last, it does not mean that father is stirring, might I remind you brother he escaped once with Heracles' help. It did not mean father was waking then, and it does not mean it now."

"Hang that!" A voice shouted, the Gods turned towards the entrance as Coeus walked in, he had dressed up for the occasion and was wearing a black suit, although he had forgotten to tie his tie.

"What is the meaning of this Coeus?" Zeus shouted his face red with fury and his Master Bolt in hand.

Coeus raised his hands into a placating position, "cool your jets, I am here to tell you my brother is rising, my map that used to show me the entire world is dominated by one entity, Kronos. I can no longer see the world, instead I just see a black aura getting stronger every day punctured only when a Demigod dies. Atlas' escape was to draw your attention away from his return."

"Coeus," said a blond woman with intelligent grey eyes, she must have been Athena as she looked so much like Annabeth, "we have not seen you in centuries, and you did not fight by our side in the last war."

Coeus sighed, "I, Coeus, Titan of Rational Thought do solemnly pledge myself to the cause of Olympus in the case of war. I swear this now and forever, I shall give whatever assistance I can in the battles fought by Olympus. I so do swear upon my honour and my essence and upon the river Styx until such a time as I draw my dying breath or am released by the Lord of Olympus."

Zeus looked stunned at Coeus' sudden declaration "I, Zeus, God of the Skies and Lord of Olympus, do accept your pledge Coeus, Titan of Rational Thought and shall expect you to uphold your oath." I expected something to happen, like a flash of light or a shower of sparks, but instead nothing happened, which was kind of a let down.

"I believe Coeus on this," Hephaestus said, "he has never lied to us in the past when we have gone to him seeing knowledge," several Olympians nodded along.

"He has rarely told us anything," Hades hissed.

"I swear that I am telling the truth nephew," Coeus said unhappily, "I have no wish to deceive you or lead you on. Even if you do not believe that I am acting selflessly, it is within my interests for Kronos to be defeated and to remain imprisoned, I rather like the world as it is and don't want to see it destroyed."

"He raises a valid point," Athena said, "Coeus has never sought power before and I do not see why he would change type now, if he was Prometheus I would be more suspicious, but he is not, I believe Coeus."

"Unless anyone has anything else to say we will now vote," Zeus said looking around the room, "all in favour of acknowledging the return of Kronos and taking action against it." Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Ares, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Mr D and Zeus himself raised their hands. "All opposed," Hades, Hera, Aphrodite all raised their hands, "and abstentions," Demeter and Hermes raised their hands. "Those in favour have it, Olympus is now at war, all Gods are authorised to use force to destroy troops of Kronos by any means necessary. All our allies will be contacted and mustered for war, Lady Athena, you will check on the prisons of the other Titans and ensure they have not escaped," Athena nodded. "Lady Artemis and Lord Apollo, you will hunt down any powerful monsters that have escaped and destroy them so they cannot join with our foes." Artemis nodded seriously whilst Apollo gave Zeus a thumbs up, which caused the Lord of the Sky to roll his eyes. "Lord Poseidon, you will unleash your full fury upon the cruise ship Princess Andromeda that currently carries the army of monsters under the leadership of Luke, son of Hermes," Hermes winced and Poseidon nodded. "Now, onto the next matter on the agenda, these Demigods..." he trailed off, suddenly we were being studied by fifteen immortals as even Hestia was staring at us.

Artemis spoke first, "these Halfbloods have done Olympus a great service have done Olympus a great service, would any here deny that?" I looked around the room, Mr D was bored and twirling a vine between his fingers, Apollo winked at us, Hephaestus was dealing with a fire in his beard. Hera was studying us, as was Athena, Ares was glaring at us, well, Percy, as he sharpened a knife, Aphrodite was texting, Hermes was arguing quietly with the snakes on the caduceus of his phone and Poseidon was smiling proudly.

"I gotta say," Apollo said puncturing the awkward silence, "these kids did okay, heroes win laurels - "

"Um, yes, first class," Hermes said quickly saving us from a haiku worse that death, "all in favour of not disintegrating them?"

A splattering of hands went up, Demeter, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Zeus, Poseidon, and weirdly Mr D. "Wait just a minute," Ares growled, slamming the knife into the arm of his chair, he pointed at Percy and Thalia, "these two are dangerous, it'd be much safer, while we've got them here."

"Ares, they are worthy heroes," Poseidon interrupted, "we will not blast my son to bits."

"Nor my daughter," Zeus grumbled, "she has done well," Thalia blushed and suddenly found the floor very interesting

"I am proud of my daughter as well," Athena said sitting forward, "but there is a security risk here with the those two," she pointed at Thalia and Percy.

"Mother!" Annabeth shouted in outrage, "how can you - "

"It is unfortunate that," Hades interrupted as he strode out the shadow Zeus' chair, "my brothers have chosen to break their oaths about children, the fact I kept my word will come as something as an irony to some of you."

"Bollocks to that, one of your children died recently," Coeus interrupted.

Hades blushed, "is this true Hades?" Artemis asked.

"Yes," Hades confirmed, "but I can assure you that my child would not have been eligible for the prophecy, so I do not think they can be counted."

"What do you mean they were not eligible? Either a child is yours or was not, simple as that."

Athena continued "we are not talking about the failure of the son of Kronos to keep their word, we are talking about the consequences of their affairs. As we know from the Great Prophecy, children of the three elder gods… such as Thalia and Percy… are dangerous. As thick-headed as he is, Ares has a point."

"Right," Ares said, "hey, wait a minute, who you callin' - " he started to get up, but a grape vine grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back down.

"Oh, please Ares," Mr D said in a bored voice, "save the fighting for later."

"My Lords and Ladies," Coeus interrupted before they could descend into bickering, "this is not a wise course to take. Trying to fight a prophecy never works, do not try to prevent the future, it only ever leads to pain, prophecies will always come true, as my siblings discovered. Besides, destroying a hero who has saved you? What message will that send to your allies, your friends, one of the founding principles of Olympus and all of the Western World was the rule of law and true justice? These Demigods have committed no crime besides apparently being born. They have defeated one of your oldest foes and removed one of his most powerful weapons, they should be rewarded, not punished. If you destroy them that is tyranny on a par with my siblings, not Olympus. I just swore to serve the best interests of Olympus, if that means I have to denounce you as your collective paranoia makes you unfit to rule, so be it."

"Perhaps," Zeus said in agreement, "but the monster at least must be destroyed, we have agreement one that?" Most of the Gods nodded in agreement and I felt my heart sink.

"Bessie?" Percy shouted, "you want to destroy Bessie?" Bessie mooed her own complaint.

Poseidon frowned, "you have named the Ophiotaurus Bessie?"

"Dad," Percy said, "he's just a sea creature, a really nice sea creature, you can't destroy him."

Poseidon shifted uncomfortably on his throne, "Percy, the monster's power is considerable, if the Titans were to steal it, or - "

"You can't," Percy turned his attention to Zeus and stared the God right in the eye, "as Coeus said, you cannot control a prophecy. If it is the time for the Ophiotaurus to be sacrificed, it will happen and nothing can prevent it. Besides, the Ophiotaurus is innocent, killing something like that is wrong. It's just as bad as… Kronos eating his children, just because of something they might do. It's wrong."

Zeus stroked his beard, deep in thought as he brooded, "and what of the risk? Kronos knows full well, if one of you were to sacrifice the beast's entrails, you would have the power to destroy us. Do you think we can let that possibility remain? You, my daughter, will turn sixteen on the morrow, just as the prophecy says."

"You have to trust them," Annabeth said, "sir, you have to trust them."

"Trust a hero," Zeus scowled.

"You know," Coeus said, "we wouldn't be in this mess if you lot looked after your damn children, you know, send them a birthday present, visit them once in awhile, invite them over for tea."

"That is against the rules," Zeus scowled again.

"Arbitrary rules you made up to justify your lack of parenting," Coeus said angrily, Zeus glared at him and reached for the Master Bolt. "Now you're going to zap me for pointing out a tactical blunder you made and have spent millennia pretending doesn't exist."  
"Our parenting is not being questioned here Coeus," Zeus said through gritted teeth.

"Or lack of it apparently," Coeus said.

"Annabeth is right," Artemis said interrupting before words became Master Bolts and whatever Coeus had, probably a book. "Which is why I must first make a reward, my faithful companion Zoë Nightshade has passed into the stars, I must have a new lieutenant, and I must choose one, but first, Father, I must speak with you privately." Zeus beckoned her forward, she slid off her throne and turned into a normal sized twelve year old girl and walked over to Zeus, who leant down to listen to her, the room descended into tense small talk.


	42. Chapter 42

After several minutes of nervous and pointless comments Artemis made an announcement that stunned the room into silence. "I shall have a new lieutenant, if she will accept it, Thalia, daughter of Zeus, will you join the Hunt?"

"I will," Thalia said.

Zeus rose from his throne, but did not shrink, "my daughter, consider well - "

"Father," Thalia said cutting him off, "I will not turn sixteen tomorrow, I will never turn sixteen, I won't let this prophecy be mine. I stand with my sister Artemis, Kronos will never tempt me again." She then proceeded to give the same oath Bianca had only a short time earlier, but a short time that seemed like an eternity. After the oath Thalia came over and smiled at us, she proceeded to hug us one by one, exchanging a few words with each of us, Grover looked ready to faint.

"Now for the Ophiotaurus," Artemis said.

"The boy is still a danger," Ares said, "the beast is still a temptation to great power, even if we spare the boy - "

"No," Percy said looking at each God in turn, "please, keep the Ophiotaurus safe, Poseidon can hide him under the sea somewhere, or keep him in an aquarium here on Olympus. But you have to protect him."

"And why should we trust you?" Hephaestus rumbled.

"I'm only fourteen, if this prophecy is about me, that is two more years for us to prepare for war."

"Two more years for Kronos to deceive you," Athena objected, "much can change in two years, my young hero."

"Mother!" Annabeth shouted in exasperation.

"It is only the truth my child," Athena said, "it is bad strategy to keep the animal alive, or the boy."

Poseidon stood up, "I will not have a sea creature destroyed if I can help it, and I can help it," he held out his hand and a six metre long bronze trident appeared in his hand. "I will vouch for the boy, and the safety of the Ophiotaurus."

"You won't take it under the sea!" Zeus shouted standing suddenly, "I won't have that kind of bargaining chip in your possession."

"Brother, please," Poseidon said, trying to placate his brother, who activated the Master Bolt in response, they started to bicker and were about to come to blows when Coeus appeared between them.

"Gentlemen please, this is why I took the knowledge of the Ophiotaurus away from the world, to prevent you lot from bickering over it, why not simply built an aquarium up here?"

"Fine," Poseidon said, "I will build an aquarium for the creature here, Hephaestus can help me," Hephaestus looked annoyed at being volunteered without his consent, "the creature will be safe. We shall protect it with all our powers, the boy will not betray us, I vouch for this on my honour."

"On your honour?" Zeus asked rubbing his chin.

"Yes, I believe Percy will remain loyal," Poseidon said staring his brother in his eyes.

"Very well, all in favour?" Zeus asked, he put his hand up, as did Poseidon, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hermes and Aphrodite. "All opposed," Ares, Hades and Athena put up their hands, "and abstentions," Mr D and Demeter put up their hands. "We have a majority in favour, and so, since we will not be destroying these heroes and they have done us a great service… I imagine we should honour them. Let the triumph celebration begin!"

* * *

As you have worked out by now, I am not exactly a social butterfly flitting from conversation to conversation. There are only so many ways to avoid a certain Haiku spouting Sun God, or angry at me by association War God, or matchmaking Beauty Goddess. So after being introduced by mistake to Mr D's wife Ariadne (yes that Ariadne, also, Mr D had a wife, who knew), I retreated to the fringes of the party and sat down on a weirdly out of place plastic folding chair that was more suited to a kid's party than a party containing enough magic to blow up a small continent (looking at you Australia). "Not enjoying the party?" A familiar voice said to my left, I looked up to see Hecate, my Mum, this was the first time I had ever seen my Mum in the flesh. She looked exactly like she had in my dream two years before, as was to be expected of a Goddess, immortals and ageing do not exactly go together.

"Not really," I said smiling at her, "I don't think I'm a parties person."

"Olympian parties are bit difficult for some mortal and Demigods, oh look, Zeus and Hera have started dancing," I looked over to the dance floor in the middle of the room. Zeus and Hera were doing a very elegant waltz across the floor, passing almost effortlessly between Elvis and a tall, muscular man I was told was Heracles who appeared to be having an argument. The dance floor itself was a little strange, whilst I heard cheerful wizard pop music being sung by the Muses it was obvious some people heard different music. There was one pair who was doing the tango, a satyr was breakdancing, Coeus was doing a war dance that looked kind of like the Haka and Percy was embarrassing himself by doing what Alice called 'Dad dancing'. "Zeus loves throwing parties just so he can show off his waltzing ability, it took them ten years to perfect that dance," I smiled at Mum. She sighed, "Janet, I know I have not exactly been a good parent. Oh who am I kidding, I've talked to you once in your life, with the recent uprising Zeus has been watching us like a hawk, even though until today he did not officially believe Kronos had returned. What I'm trying to say is that whatever path you take I will support you, as I will for all your siblings, however, if two of you end up on opposite sides on the battlefield, I will not favour either of you. If you make a decision to put yourself on the opposite side to me in the war I won't be angry, I won't be vindictive and take away any of the abilities I have granted you because it is your choice and I respect that. Whatever you do with your life will at least be impressive."

"Thanks Mum," I said smiling again.

"Anyway, I have a present for you," she clicked her fingers and I felt magic roll down my body. I looked down to see that I was in an elegant red dress that left my shoulders bare and reached down to my knees, my shoes had also changed into red pumps, "I sent your other clothes home for you."

"Thanks Mum," I said as I hugged her and kissed her cheek, leaving a lipstick mark, I gasped and summoned a mirror, I was wearing make-up for the first time in my life, I did not like it much, I barely recognised my own face under the make-up.

"You did well on your quest," Mum said as she erased the mark, "you even got Prince Furibon out of hiding, but something bothers you, what is it?"

"Mum, that demon, Tala, why is it the water burned here once, but not the other times I used it on her? And I dropped a rock on her to no effect, but my sword cut her? Also, who was that random knight in Paris?"

"Demons are tough foes and I cannot speak of their weaknesses directly, but I can say that they are usually immune to magic, physical injury from magic and Hellenic magic. They are weak to one kind of object, with special properties to it, they avoid the objects with an, um, almost religious zeal. As for the knight, I have no idea exactly who he is but, from what Coeus told me about him, he sounds like a paladin. They are the rarely seen knights who have an unmatched level of fanatical adoration for the Catholic church and will always follow the orders of high ranking officials as long as the orders are just and morally right, they have magic swords and armour and are sent to deal with powerful demons, rogue magicians, monsters, vampires and werewolves." She stroked her chin for a while, "if the paladins get involved things could get interesting," she muttered. With a small gasp of realisation she looked down at me, "I have to go, it was nice seeing you again Janet," she hurried off and was quickly lost in the crowd.

I sat by myself on the edge of the party as the Gods and citizens of Olympus steadily got drunker and occasionally would start fighting, only for the fight to be broken up by Athena and Artemis. I was bored, so I started wondering what my friends were doing elsewhere in the world. Hermione was probably still skiing, Ron and Harry were probably up to no good at Hogwarts, Alice was safe at camp and John was probably at home, wherever that was. "May I have this dance?" A slightly accented voice asked, I looked up to see a guy about the same age as me. He was as handsome as one of the Aphrodite campers, but unlike them he did not have the permanent sneer on his face that the Aphrodite campers did. He was tall and lean muscular, with deep blue eyes and short blond hair, he had a strong chin and high cheekbones, he was dressed in a tight blue shirt, brown trousers, brown shoes and a grey suit jacket.

Unsure how to reject him politely, I smiled at him, "um, sure," he took my hand and led me onto the dance floor, he led me through several dances that I was not very graceful at as I had never danced before. We danced for so long I lost track of time, the music changed several times as he elegantly led me slowly and gracefully through several dances. When we stopped he led me off the dance floor.

"Sorry I danced with you for so long, it was impolite of me to do so, it's just that I lost track of time staring into your beautiful eyes," I blushed and was at a loss for words, "my name is Andrew by the way."

"Janet," I said quickly, "nice to meet you."

"Would you like a drink?" He asked.

"Yes please," he clicked his fingers and a glass of orange juice appeared on a table next to us, "thanks." I said as I took it and took a sip, it was nice juice, fresh and sweet, but also bitter and acidic, more so than normal.

"Come on, I want to show you my favourite place in the world," he grabbed my hand and pulled me out the room.

* * *

After a short walk we were standing out in the cold morning air in a beautiful rose garden, there were dozens of large rose bushes growing in patches surrounded by grass. The roses were the largest I had ever seen, each the size of a side plate, they were beautiful unnatural colours, ranging from pinks and red to blue and purple, they almost looked like they were painted. In the middle of the garden was a bench under an archway covered in climbing roses of a more natural size and colour, the smell of the roses was almost overpowering. Andrew led my to the bench and we sat down, I sat there staring at the roses as bees whizzed around the garden going from flower to flower.

"It's beautiful," I said as I looked at him, he was staring at me in a way that unnerved me, I took a sip of my juice.

"Yes it is, but the most beautiful flower in the garden is sitting next to me," I smiled nervously, there was something about the creepy, almost predatory way he was staring at me that unnerved me. I took another sip of my juice, the bitterness of the juice was still unnerving me, but I decided it was probably just a different kind of orange to what I was used to. We sat there making small talk about nothing of great interest, with Andrew complimenting me almost every time he spoke, in time I finished my orange juice, Andrew smiled at me, he put his hand on my chin and turned my face towards him, and leaned in. I tried to resist, but something stopped me. Every instinct in my body told me to run. But my brain was telling me that this was right. I should kiss him.

He was almost to my lips when I finally got enough willpower together to pull away. "No!" I said as he kissed air, "what did you do?"

"What do you mean?" He asked smiling at me, I almost stopped being angry at him, almost.

"Don't give me that, you did something, what was it?" He stopped smiling and looked down at the ground.

He sighed, "I did not want to do this, but you are so beautiful, I had to try, I'm an Incubus, which, despite the rumours does not mean I'm a life sucking monster. We are the immortal children of Aphrodite and one of the more obscure Gods, we have the power to seduce anyone, no matter their gender or sexuality. I know what we do is wrong, but it's who we are, it's all we're good for." I was still furious and stormed out the rose garden, which now smelt sickly and looked shadowy with its giant bushes blocking the light in places.

Manhattan was actually pretty quiet when we left Olympus, it was nearly Christmas, but it was still early enough that only a few people were trudging through the snow. I had changed before leaving Olympus, the beautiful dress Mum gave me in a rucksack, I had also removed the make-up from my face, deciding I did not like the fake mask it created. Argus was waiting for us with a minibus, he smiled at us and motioned for us to get in. The roads around New York were almost totally empty.

We trudged up Half-Blood Hill in silence, all mourning those we had lost during the quest, despite Thalia not actually dying, it still felt we had lost her. The dragon had grown a lot since the last time I had seen him, he was now the size of a Great Dane. Still, he did not have the dragon hoarding mentality, so he growled at us in affectionate way, the guards on duty waved when they saw us, one was Will, I did not know the other's name, but I knew him to be a son of Ares. We waved back before hurrying over to the Big House to report to Chiron.


	43. Chapter 43

Manhattan was actually pretty quiet when we left Olympus, it was nearly Christmas, but it was still early enough that only a few people were trudging through the snow. I had changed before leaving Olympus, the beautiful dress Mum gave me in a rucksack, I had also removed the make-up from my face, deciding I did not like the fake mask it created. Argus was waiting for us with a minibus, he smiled at us and motioned for us to get in. The roads around New York were almost totally empty.

We trudged up Half-Blood Hill in silence, all mourning those we had lost during the quest, despite Thalia not actually dying, it still felt we had lost her. The dragon had grown a lot since the last time I had seen him, he was now the size of a Great Dane. Still, he did not have the dragon hoarding mentality, so he growled at us in affectionate way, the guards on duty waved when they saw us, one was Will, I did not know the other's name, but I knew him to be a son of Ares. We waved back before hurrying over to the Big House to report to Chiron.

Chiron was waiting for us with representatives from the cabins that actually had people staying in, Grover bid us farewell as he went to check up on his woodland friends. We sat down around the ping-pong table, Percy, Annabeth and myself at one end, the Stolls were there, as was Silena, Beckendorf and Clarisse. Clarisse had returned from wherever her quest slash mission, slash whatever it was, sent her. She looked even worse than she normally did, her hair had been raggedly chopped with probably a blunt knife, her face was covered in sticking plasters with little pictures of smiling Demigods and her left arm was in a sling.

"I've got bad news," she muttered uneasily.

"You can fill me in later," Chiron said in a fake cheerful voice, "the important thing is you have prevailed and saved Annabeth." Annabeth smiled gratefully at Percy, who looked away blushing, which caused Annabeth to frown.

"Luke is alive," Percy said, "Annabeth was right," the other exchanged glances, Percy had apparently called ahead to tell everyone about Luke's death and Atlas' escape attempt and everything else that happened.

"What are you talking about Percy?" Beckendorf rumbled.

Percy quickly told them what happened on Mount Tam, "on Olympus Dad, I mean Poseidon came to speak with me. He told me that Luke's boat sailed from San Francisco and that he was on it making alliances with the elder water spirits, and that golden sarcophagus is still growing in power."

"Well," Annabeth said awkwardly, "if the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out." I got the feeling that figure something out in Annabeth's mind involved reforming Luke, but he was too far gone for that, but she refused to accept it.

Chiron's face looked old as he sat in his wheelchair by the fire, the flickering light gave him lines he did not possess, when he spoke his voice was hollow. "Two years may seem like a long time seem like a long, but it is a the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But, if you are, then the second Titan War is almost upon us. Kronos' first strike will be here."

"How do you know?" Percy asked, "why would he care about Camp?"

"Because the Gods use heroes as their tools, destroy the tools, and the Gods will be crippled. Luke's forces will come here, mortal, Demigod, monstrous… We must be prepared, Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but -" he was cut off by a knock at the door and Nico came bounding into the room, he was huffing and his cheeks were red from the cold.

He was smiling, but his smile dropped when he looked around the room, "hey, where... Where's my sister?"

Dead silence, Percy shifted uncomfortably and stared a disbelieving stare at Chiron, "hey, Nico, let's take a talk a walk, okay? We need to talk." Percy took a very scared Nico out the room.

I left the room as well because I wanted to get back to the cabin and see Alice, I found her sitting on her bed doing her holiday homework from Hogwarts. She squeaked when she saw me walk in the cabin door and rushed down from the top bunk to give me rib creaking hug. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay, you didn't send word once that you were okay, I got really scared you had died, I missed you so much, Camp has been so tense lately, and it got worse when Clarisse returned all cut up and half dead. So what happened? What was everything like? Ooh who was the demon?"

I laughed at my friend's excitement, well, it was more of a hiss seeing as I could not breath very well seeing as Alice was still hugging me, "Alice, breath."

"Oh, sorry," she said as she released me,we sat down on my bunk, I took a deep breath, and started telling her about the quest. Alice was excitably asking me strange questions through the whole thing. "So, it sounds like a lot of things have allied themselves to Luke, whoever broke the floo network probably also sent the Wolfman, Furibon and the Gore Crows at you. I bet it's that Death Eater you fought last summer."

I shook my head, "I doubt he would leave America, no, I think it is more likely to be Tala or another player in this giant game we are playing."

"I'm still jealous to got to travel all over Europe and went to Olympus for a party, meanwhile I am stuck in this little cabin training every day and doing Flitwick's damn riddles." She pouted playfully and I laughed at her, causing her to start laughing as well, we sat there laughing for a while before she calmed down enough to speak. "So, shall we do the usual thing for when a person returns from a quest and dissect the prophecy?" The ground shifted slightly, knocking Alice over on top of me, we both blushed and sat up quickly, "was that an earthquake?"

"Not likely," I said, "come on." She quickly pulled on boots and a coat and we left the cabin, Percy came running passed, naturally in the direction of Annabeth's cabin. "Percy," I called, "what happened?" If there was one demigod who could provoke an earthquake this far from a fault-line, it was Percy.

He stopped and turned to me, "Nico ran off into the woods," he then turned and carried on running. Alice and I looked at each other before we took off running into the woods.

* * *

We searched for hours, occasionally bumbling across Percy, Annabeth and Grover, who were also searching. I had tried all my magic to find him, I sent out legilimency to find his mind, I sent out tracking charms, revealing charms, everything from my long list of spells that could help. Nico had at some point learnt to conceal himself very well, unless he had learnt to shadow travel. We already knew he was the child of a death god, as had been shown when his sister had been announced as such by Coeus' map, so it was not inconceivable that he could have shadow travelled. "We won't find him tonight," I said when the two search groups bumped into each other, "it's getting dark, if Nico is out here, he probably doesn't want to be found, but more likely than not he is long gone, probably accidentally activated one of his godly parent's abilities."

"I think his Dad is um, the God of the Underworld," Percy said cautiously.

"I know," I said, "Bianca showed upon Coeus' map and he thinks she was Hades' daughter."

"We have to tell Chiron," Annabeth said grimly.

"No," I said, "if knowledge of who he is leaks to the other side they will try to capture him, especially now he is not at Camp, or worse yet the Gods will squabble about killing him. What we don't need at the moment is a divisive argument between the Gods, or worse yet a civil war, the upcoming war will need all of them on the same side. We wait until the prophecy is over and then talk, we will probably get in trouble, but I am willing to risk it to save the world."

"Do you not understand what this means?" Annabeth hissed, "none of the big three kept their oath."

"No," Percy said, "Hades kept it, Nico and Bianca were out of commission for a really long time, in fact they were born before World War 2."

"The Lotus Casino," Grover said, "they were stuck in there for decades, they were born before the oath was made."

We trudged back to Camp, Percy went to tell Chiron about Nico's disappearance.

"Well," Alice said sadly, "that happened, I liked Nico, he was a nice guy, I can't imagine what will happen now his sister is dead, they were really close."

"I think we will find out," I said tiredly as I yawned, I had been up for two days, and needed to sleep, "powerful Demigods have a tendency of showing up in unexpected places."

* * *

That night I dreamt of the Oracle in her attic, she was wrapped in Christmas lights and wearing a Christmas jumper with a picture of Hermes dressed as Santa Claus on it. The mummified Oracle stood, which caught me by surprise, the green smoke appeared out her mouth,

" _Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

 _One shall be lost in the land without rains,_

 _One shall head east for knowledge of old,_

 _Avalon's sister fights the demon from cold,_

 _The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

 _Campers, and Hunters combined prevail,_

 _The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

 _And one shall perish by a parent's hand._ "

She sat down again and my dream shifted to the Princess Andromeda, Tala was staring out the window of Luke's room, next to her the golden sarcophagus glowed angrily. I shifted closer to her in the way that only makes sense in dreams, she was reading a piece of paper on a clipboard, it had the prophecy written on it. "Five went west to Artemis, check," she ticked the box next to that line of the prophecy, "the little girl was crushed by Talos in the rainless land, check. The little witchy girl went east and found the knowledge, check. She fought me, check, the bane was found, and in doing so they were lead to us, check, they won together, check. The son of the sea withstood the sky, check, and Atlas killed his daughter, check. This prophecy is finished, now then onto more pressing matters." She turned to the sarcophagus, "with both Atlas and Luke unavailable to lead your forces at the moment, may I assume command?"

The sarcophagus glowed before a massive voice spoke with such force that it shook my incorporeal form, "yes Tala, you have proven yourself loyal. Even if you failed to stop a little girl from unlocking the knowledge, thanks to an overly zealous mortal," Tala cringed a little, "you may assume command until our process comes to fruition."

"Thank you my Lord," she said levelly, "I shall continue our plans, until the process is complete," the sarcophagus dimmed and I left the dream.


	44. Reviews (Yay)

So, normally I wait until the end of the story until answering reviews, but I've had so many reviews I've decided to use this transition between the two sides of the stories to answer them. While I have answered all of these in PMs, I am also answering them publically. The asterisks (*) denotes my answer.

So without further ado:

Shadowblackmane writes:

It's a lovely story so far, please continue the good work and amazing story development.

*Thank you very much for this lovely review Shadowblackmane and I do intend to continue.

Good job on getting so many chapters out in such a small time, they're amazing and as detailed as they always are. Keep up the good work.

*I actually wrote the whole story in advance, as I have done for the entire series, it prevents me from missing chapters, and it makes the whole story flow with greater continuity.

* * *

Archdruid89 writes:

I had forgotten how much Hermione hates Trelawney for her absent-mindedness and eccentricness of being a Seer and trying to be one.

You ought to write that Janet mentions to Hermione the story of Cassandra (a Princess of Troy) of how she was gifted with prophetic visions by Apollo, the god of the sun, music, and prophecy, but was lusted by the sun god himself. She spurned his advances and in retaliation, Apollo cursed the princess that her prophecies would never be believed by anyone and thus fell the city of Troy. But Hermione ought to be arrogant about what she was told, and Janet warns her to never mock or insult the gods of Greece because it would be the last the a nonbeliever would ever do.

*I have two things to say about this, one, I had never heard the story of Cassandra, so that was why I did not use it. And two, there is no ought in fanfictions, this is my own story and I am writing it how I want to.

* * *

MichiefofSorceress writes:

The story is great. I had to catch up and good thing I did. Also you are so lucky to update this story everyday but, if I updated my stories everyday I will probably be stressed and on writer block. Pretty much I am on a writers block.

*Ditto my second answer to Shadowblackmane.

* * *

Now for my two most prolific reviewers:

Cynder2013 writes:

Nice guy. Really. Are the Egyptians going to drop in now?

*Not yet, I have the whole of the Kronos storyline to get through and the Roman storyline, but eventually I'll get to it.

Ha, the family tree *does* look like it was spun by a drunken spider. Wonder how Athena feels about that…

*I'm sure she doesn't mind about that, she probably invented family trees.

Wouldn't her dad maybe insist he get a trial? It's your character, but just letting someone go to jail without a trial seems not part of his MO.

*It's not normally, but he had a lot on his mind at the time, it was at the end of the war and Thom was thinking about moving to America, so one criminal was not particularly interesting, especially one with a case that looks so superficially fine.

The Oracle has to be a maiden. And human. Do wizards count as human?

Yay! More obscure gods! That's always fun.

*The Oracle is sworn to celibacy, not to be a maiden, don't forget Luke's Mum tried to become the Oracle after having Luke. I'm not sure if wizards count as humans, I consider them humans in the same way that mutants from Marvel comics are humans, just a little special.

And Idaho again...And Draco is still being...Draco.

*Draco will always be Draco, that is the point of him being Draco and yes, more Idaho.

At least they know what their boggarts mean.

* Yeah, it couldn't mean much else, Boggarts are kind of blunt.

("full marks" Janet got full marks.)

A Sneakoscope can't hurt. Pepper Imps on the other hand…

*I have corrected the typo. And Pepper Imps do seem kind of dangerous, there is no way they got past health and safety.

Suffixes. Great. Magic is a language now.

*Well, magic was always based generally on a mix of Greek or Latin (mainly Latin) and I have not used suffixes, they were adjectives, always have been.

Demigods live almost as Muggles. Why wouldn't skiing have been mentioned at Camp?

Janet tends to have selective hearing, besides, Demigods don't really talk about life beyond the *Camp much beyond talking about their survival stories. Furthermore, she lives in Texas and her friends live in Vegas (Drake) and one of the more agrarian states (Alice) and John doesn't talk about his family and home much.

Can't read the first part. The paragraphs got lost.

*Sorry, that was fixed, it was a copying error between my main document and the divided chapters, I have fixed it.

Oh, great. Just great. Too much to hope that they could get out of this more easily with two more highly trained demigods with them.

*Like I'd be that nice to them, besides, that would make the rest of the adventure pretty short without a missing Annabeth to motivate Percy.

Man, she even left out words and letters at the end there. That's OK, emotions were high.

*That was me messing up while changing the order of some of the sentences so that they would make more sense, it has been fixed, thanks for spotting that.

And there's the Clock.

*Well, he was referenced, but yes, he was there.

Grover, dear, you have a girlfriend. OK, maybe not yet.

*I don't know when he got a girlfriend, but all Satyrs have a thing for Artemis, it's just how they are.

Thank goodness Apollo didn't let her drive. I don't think I could handle that twice.

Also, belated from last chapter: Janet x Alice? Please?

*Well, the main argument in the story for Thalia driving is that she is old enough to have a learner's permit, but that doesn't mean she has one, so shouldn't be driving.

I will not confirm or deny shipping until it turns up in the story.

Ha. Werewolves in London. Vampires in Romania. I love these little references you put it.

*I find the references to be preferable to superfluous dialogue that just fills space.

So...who won?

*Well, by absolute numbers the Demigods, the monsters lost three dwarves and a helicopter and Thorn was injured. But the monsters captured the Demigods' best(?) strategist at the cost of some dwarves and a some muggle mercenaries, so, swings and roundabouts.

Alice, keep an eye on Nico, would you?

*Yes ADHD Demigod that does not know to keep an eye on the flight risk, keep an eye on the flight risk.

Again: Uh oh.

OK, are they trying to prevent Sirius from Flooing out?

*No, in my headcanon they were trying to keep Janet out of Europe, because they 'know' that he is going after Harry, so why would he leave?

Not Lycon? He's not that...suave.

*Nope, just your average, garden variety wolfman of Spanish mythos.

Cupid, not being a jerk. Surprising. Thanatos was right, he's nicer than Cupid.

And those locks are gone now.

*It's a bit of a shame, but they were destroying the bridge. Cupid knows that they world might rest on his decision there, so he decided to be nice, if a little strange.

No messing with the Floo this time. Thank goodness for helpful Titans.

*Yes, all one of them (and Bob).

Shadowhunters. Sed lex dura lex. The Law is hard, but it's the Law. The Clock has met some, hasn't he?

*Yes, that was a Shadowhunters reference, and the Clock has been around long enough to bump into them and they aren't very good at the whole being subtle thing (or in my opinion, Cassandra Clare has trouble writing them as subtle). It is likely he has met some, probably by them bumbling into each other in a sewer in the middle of the night.

Up next: Janet VS. Thorne, part three.

*Janet is winning with one win and one retreat on Thorne's part, let's see what happens.

Bad idea, sleeping.

*Well, facing a Titan whilst tired is probably an even worse idea than sleeping.

A few words got catapulted away again.

"Not a threat" they say of Janet. EVERYONE begs to differ.

*I have fixed the missing words, yet again, I swear I proof-read this, I don't know how it keeps happening. Janet is kind of scary, although, I think Tala would not beg to differ, seeing as Janet still has no idea how to defeat her.

Of course you cut it at a cliffhanger.

*It is a kind of dramatic place to cut and it is where Rick cut off the chapter in the story, so I decided to cut there as well.

PJO stories, always good for a laugh if done right. This one is done right.

*Thanks, that's very kind.

Coeus, the only rational immortal in the room. Who would have thought.

*He's always rational, just a little scatterbrain sometimes.

* * *

Ilostmyaccount says:

Hittite? Really? What use is Hittite, there's like no stuff left written in Hittite.

Who the hell is Coeus? And why is he so weird? He seems like he has ADHD and needs less sugar. And why does no-one who lives in Diagon Alley notice how odd the shop is? Oh right, magic...

Free books doesn't seem like a sound business strategy, he still has to pay rent on that shop.

Also, that pun is dreadful, as were the others,

Regards

*What have you got against Hittite? I'm sure there will be some magic left in Hittite.

Coeus explained who he was in the story and why he is so weird was explained later on as well, but he was thrown into Tartarus, you'd be a bit strange too if you were thrown into Tartarus.

There is a lot of weirdness on Diagon Alley, I'd assume people had accepted it at this point.

I don't think Coeus is in the book selling business for the money, he can probably just make more money.

Puns are meant to be dreadful, so thanks.

Also, that is the most passive aggressive ellipse I have ever seen.

I don't believe that Janet did not know about the Patronus charm, that seems out of character for her.

Also, Marc? Who uses a c rather than a k?

I have a problem with how you end some of your conversations, they just sort of end without resolution, but those are minor problems, good job, keep it up,

Regards

*She would not have encountered a Dementor before, so might not have learn the charm to ward them off.

I have a friend who spells his name Marc…

I am aware that some of the conversations are a bit stilted, I am trying to work on that, but Janet and Alice are both a little socially awkward, so that would make their conversations a bit strange anyway.

Best pre-WOMBAT student? That would make her the best in the school, do you mean like best pre-OWL student or best pre-NEWT student?

Regards

*I think you are right, I do mean pre-OWL, I won't fix that because it is a goof, not a typo.

Wait, is Trelawney actually able to see the future in this fic? I know some people like her and give her more accurate foretelling powers, Professor Babbling? She was in the last fic yes? Checking, checking, yep, she was there,

Regards

*Yes, Trelawney can see the future, she could anyway, she did it twice in the main series as well, once for Voldemort's fall and once for Pettigrew's return, I just expanded that a bit. And yes, Babbling was in the last fic.

Why does a child of Iris have this Doctor Dolittle effect on animals? Is it because everything loves rainbows? I bet it's because everything loves rainbows.

Regards

P.S. What happened in Idaho? Or is this one of those things that happens off-screen that is never resolved as a sort of running gag?

*I don't know why the children of Iris are like Doctor Dolittle, I just modelled Alice off Butch, except without the tattoo or the buzz cut, or muscles.

Idaho incident is indeed a running gag, it is a trope that I quite liked and found funny, so I put it in and have been continuing it (the trope is the noodle incident, which is from the Peanuts comic strip, in case you care)

That's actually quite interesting, what could scare Janet? A character who is almost Mary Sueish levels of powerful? Herself, going bad, or going overboard and hurting someone, I imagined it would be something like her Dad dead, or Alice, or both, I approve, that is a really good idea.

I wouldn't call Luke American Voldemort, Voldemort is beyond help, but Luke came back to the right side at the end,

Regards

*Yeah, I did make Janet a little Mary Sueish, but I have a plan for that. And the Luke not being American Voldemort, he kind of is from some ways of looking at it.

Way to rub it in Lupin.

C Sorrows? Is that China Sorrows from the Skulduggery Pleasant series?

I know it's canon and all, but the smoke curling out of Harry's ears and nose is possibly the stupidest moment in the entire series,

Regards

*Lupin isn't great at the whole comforting Harry thing.

Yes, that is China Sorrows, it is a reference and a set up for a possible future adventure for Janet (I am trying to set up the summer adventures a little better).

The smoke thing was extremely silly, it belonged more in a cartoon than a serious story, but we must remember these were kids' books at the start, at the end, not so much.

I've spotted a common theme with Sir Cadogan, he always seems to flirt with female OCs, I kind of feel bad for him, but, I suppose it is within his character of being a knight. Personally I think you should have seperated these two scenes and turned them into longer scenes, because they have nothing to do with each other, one is about Lupin's mystery and the other is about Black, furthermore, there is a massive time skip in the middle, which normally occur at the beginning of a chapter,

Regards

*Sir Cadogan does fit the character too well to not have him flirt, but I won't make it a major thing.

I suppose you're right, the scenes could have done with a little expansion and really should have been separated. But the fic is already massive and I wanted to get it finished so I did not separate them.

I want Luna's hat, I bet you I could buy it on the internet for a ridiculous amount of money, but I don't have the money to buy it.

Janet gave up on Harry rather quickly, that seems a bit OOC, but I suppose she is your character, you can do what you like.

I'm pretty sure I just realised who Uncle Alistair is, it took me a while because, if I'm right, you spelt his name wrong, it's Alastor,

Regards

*You can indeed buy Luna's hat (although I don't think it moves).

Harry didn't want to continue, so she stopped, that's totally within character for her.

Yes, Alastor has been misspelt all through the fic and previous fics, but I won't change it, I have been using it too consistently to change now.

So, Janet worked out the whole thing about Black just by thinking about it... HOW DID NO-ONE WORK THIS OUT BEFORE, IT IS SO SIMPLE?

Why did Lupin not want to tell everyone? That could have solved everything so quickly,

Regards

*Because no-one cared enough to work it out.

Lupin was still not totally convinced and it would not have helped them, Pettigrew would have realised that they were tipped off and would have fled and if they were wrong Black might have gotten Harry.

Not a good idea to hold that kind of lesson inside...

How powerful is Janet? It seems she is more powerful than Harry and I always assumed Harry was quite powerful, is she like Dumbledore or Voldemort levels of powerful,

Regards

*No, it's not really a good idea, but it is mainly smallish spells, they should be fine.

Janet is very powerful, I'm not sure yet how she will compare to Dumbledore (with Elder wand) or Voldemort, but I think she will be at least close in terms of strength, don't forget that both of them have augmented their strength, Dumbledore through the Elder wand and Voldemort through Dark Arts.

I love Luna, the movies needed more Luna.

It's really interesting to finally meet, even briefly, Thom's family.

I would have thought Janet would have heard of skiing, although, I suppose she was quite isolated and grew in Texas, which lacks snow, but still, surely someone at camp would have mentioned something about it before,

Regards

*Everything needs more Luna, I don't get to write her enough.

Thom's family had been referenced before and I felt that they needed at least an introduction.

See my response to Cynder2013's review about the same matter for the skiing.

I did wonder whether or not you would include the Titan's Curse storyline, I'm glad that you did, it would have been so easy to avoid doing it.

Also, yay Grover, Grover is bae,

Regards

*It would have been easy to avoid, it would be easy to avoid all of the storylines, but that would be boring.

Please never use bae in a review again.

How do you forget a crew cut like Thorn's? Although, I suppose he has gained an accent and it has been two years, okay, she gets a pass on that one.

People do seem to say that they are going to kill Janet on a rather regular basis.

Why is everything fireproof? I think every villain you've put into the story has been fireproof, except the troll,

Regards

*Being threatened with death is a daily occurrence for Janet at this point.

I think some of the minor monsters weren't fireproof (cough cough Hydra) but yeah, otherwise being able to throw a fireball that burns away all her problems would be massively OP.

Ah, the old Americans don't know geography bit, but I suppose the Quebecois and French accents do sound rather similar.

Tala, Tala, that name sounds familiar, oh she was a DC villain, does this mean all this is in the DC universe?

Janet's rage mode activated, and she seems to be going mad, is she hearing voices? Because that can't be good,

Regards

*Well, to be fair, you don't hear about Quebec much and I already had that 'bit' inside when Bianca and Janet were talking about Italy.

Tala is indeed based off of a DC villain, I do also have a plan for a future DC crossover.

Janet is not going mad.

This Cassie girl needs less caffeine.

Oh, Janet is a grammar pedant, great...

Regards

*Yes, Cassie needs less caffeine

The passive aggressive ellipse is back and yes she is pedant, she loves to read, of course she cares about using outdated words.

Wait, is Janet a lesbian? That explains a lot actually,

Regards

*I will not confirm or deny shipping or the sexuality of my characters.

Oh God, I forgot the Haikus, I wish I could forget them again,

Regards

*I think we all want to forget them.

So, I've been reading for a while now, a friend recommended the series to me, you're writing was a little simplistic to start, but it is definitely getting better over time, practice makes perfect, I suppose.

We don't need a description of your characters every time you start a new story, we remember what the characters look like and I can't help but feel that you have dumbed down Hermione a bit, she would have known about the extra classes on Ancient Greek and definitely would have known what was going to be taught in Ancient Runes, a class she was taking,

Regards,

Anon

* Thank you for complimenting my writing and thank your friend for recommending the series to you.

I'm sorry for giving a reminder of what my characters look like, like most authors do anyway.

Hermione probably should known about the Ancient Greek classes, I apologise for making a mistake in a story.

The idea of a Doberman sized dragon is kind of cute, also, the camp in winter sounds kind of depressing,

Regards

*It does sound a bit depressing, but it would be so pretty.

I do not want to meet a Doberman sized firebreathing dragon.

(Shakes head) You should have known better generic Huntress, the fight scene was a little short, but it's nice to see the Hunters lose for once,

Regards

*Generic huntress saw a small girl who was not visibly armed, she should have known better and I know the fight was a little short, but writing fight scenes is a little difficult, the longer they are, the harder they get to write.

Ooh, that's an interesting way of getting Janet involved in this without having to kick someone off the team,

"demon from cold" Who could that be? Khione maybe? She's not really a demon though, so I guess it might be an OC or a play on words, I guess I'll have to wait and see,

Regards

*I'm glad you approve also, I will not tell before it's time for the reveal.

Wait, just a minute here, why does Janet not know the Ophiotaurus? Doesn't she know all about myths and stuff with how her Dad brought her up?

Regards

*That will be explained.

I bet it was Atlas, or Tala, or someone like that who broke the floo, it would delay Janet and might even scupper the quest.

Chromamancer? Why would anyone want to control colour? That seems like a pointless way of using magic, unless it control things with certain colours. Actually now I think about it, it would be pretty cool, you could be the world's best fashion designer by making such pretty colours, or be an interior designer, you turn up and click your fingers, room changes colours, that would be pretty cool,

Regards

*See, this person gets it, although, you made the Chromamancer cooler than I ever thought they could be, they could be an amazing artist as well, I was originally thinking along the lines of BioChromatic Breath from Warbreaker, but that kind of sounds better.

That is a really creative use of accio, I have never thought it had any use as an offensive spell.

Why the hell was Wolfman so calm over dying, I know he's a monster and all, but even a monster has got to care about dying, or at least be in a lot of pain,

Regards

*Well, creativity would be needed in any duel.

The Wolfman was in shock at finally being beaten, so could not really believe what he was see.

So she speaks Latin, Ancient Greek, Japanese, French, English and bloody Hebrew, but not Spanish? The second most widely spoken language in the world? Girl, where are you're priorities at?

I used to love the story of Prince Furibon when I was a little kid, my French nanny would read it to me (in English of course).

Gore crows? Those are from Sabriel aren't they? I used to love those books

*You forgot your usual sign off.

Well, Latin and Greek are the languages of magic as was, traditionally Hebrew and English students usually learn French (closest neighbour with a useful language and all that) and Japanese, because, it is useful, I'm not sure why I included that one.

Prince Furibon (for anyone wondering) is from The Imp Prince, a traditional French story.

Gore Crows are indeed from the Old Kingdom series, I still read those books, Nix put out another one recently.

Man, Coeus is weird, is that intentional or not?

What qualifies a country as an Empire, or a person as an Emperor, I never understood when a country ends and an Empire begins.

Also, Notre Dame? You could not make it even a little challenging?

Regards

*Coeus being weird is intentional

I don't know what qualifies an empire, it is one of those nebulous things.

I'm sorry that the God of Love chose the most romantic spot in the city, the place where his power will be the strongest.

What the **** is this? A random knight? You better have a good reason for this.

Tala's story is almost tragic if she wasn't teaming up with a Titan to end the world,

Regards

*I'm sorry my creative direction is not good enough for you, as a matter of fact, I do have future plans for the Defender of the Faith as an ally for Janet.

Tala has gone kind of loopy after being trapped on Earth for that long.

Ah, the voice is back in her head, is she going mad?

Also, that explains why she didn't notice the Ophiotaurus, I retract my previous statement (I would delete it and rewrite the review, but the site lacks that crucial feature).

Regards

*I already said, she is not going mad.

The site does need the ability to at least rewrite reviews, it would kind of be useful.

Man, can you imagine what Coeus could do with the map? He could find just about anyone important to the story,

Also, seriously? Neither of them could work out that black Hades? They are supposed to be geniuses.

Regards

*Except magic users or muggles, because as he said it is only Demigods and monsters that appear normally.

Only Coeus is explicitly a genius, Janet might be, or just very clever, also I think the word equals is missing.

A Nightvale reference? I approve, there is no way you something that specific by chance.

Also, why would you jump of a dam? Why not just track them with legilimency, or use Revelio Homme?

Regards

*There are more words missing.

Sometimes you just have to jump off a damn dam.

Oh, the dam dam puns, (sighs) I hated them in the book, still hate them here.

Yet another thing on the fireproof list, is anything not fireproof?

Regards

*I get the feeling you don't find some of my jokes very puny.

The Hydra

Who the hell is this Clock guy? Why randomly stick him in here, he's like that Defender fellow, he does not need to be here, Janet could have dealt with it.

I'm guessing monstrous vampires are the Skulduggery Pleasant vampires, Transylvanian vampires will be like Dracula and stuff, but what is a demonic vampire?

Regards

*I'm sorry for introducing more OCs (you don't like OCs do you?) The Clock is from one of my other stories (entitled "The Clock", if you are interested)

A demonic vampire would be a vampire from the Shadowhunter serieses.

(Dramatic music) It's the baguette, run for the hills!

Didn't Janet already explain who Coeus was to Percy?

Regards

*Percy? Listen? Those are alien concepts.

Janet slapped Thalia and was not speared immediately? Unbelievable.

Why didn't Janet use Mist to stop civilians seeing and then use magic? She did it with her broomstick,

Regards

*She used the mist to hide herself, but Mist does not hide magic.

Thalia was too shocked to spear anyone.

The image of Zoe flying over Ladon is kind of funny, like a really messed up Free Willy,

Regards

*Yes, exactly like that scene in Free Willy where the little boy jumped over the whale.

She does raise a valid point, it is a family affair, they are, after all, one massive dysfunctional family,

Regards

*Every single person on that mountain is related to the others (although aren't we all distantly?)

Man, Zoe's death is still kind of sad the second time you go through it.

On a separate note, you still haven't explained who this Clock fellow is, but I kind of like him,

Buzzing? NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES!

Regards

*I never really found Zoe's death sad because she wasn't much of a character.

We could have done without a Wickerman reference.

I did wonder why in the book Hades was not on Olympus, this is a much more realistic, I suppose the word would be, version of the Olympian Council.

I noticed Coeus' oath did not swear himself to Zeus, he swore to join Olympus in war, that was clever, he only has to help Olympus during war and placated Zeus, I approve,

Regards

*My thought process went like this, Hades is only allowed on Olympus once per year, so why was he not there?

Coeus may be strange, but he isn't stupid.

So, that was basically immortal date rape? That was weird, it seems that Olympus has all sorts, although, I suppose it does fit with how the Gods were, so I simultaneously approve and disapprove, I'm so conflicted,

Regards

*He wasn't planning to rape her, he was seducing her yes, but she was still only fourteen, that would have been messed up, it was more him trying to steal a kiss without permission.

* * *

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	45. Chapter 44

Hogwarts was still blanketed in snow when we returned, as per usual there was no great fanfare everyone just got on with their lives, totally unaware of how close they came to death from Kronos. Our first lesson was with Lupin and he taught us the actual way to capture Cornish Pixies, rather than the Lockhart method, at the end he called Harry and I over.

"I know you are both worried about Black," I had to resist laughing, I had forgotten about Black with all that was going on with Atlas, he seemed to be very undangerous after fighting Atlas. I kept respectfully silent about that, "and about the Dementors floating just beyond the school grounds, so I would like you two to attend some extra Defence lesson on Saturdays, we will start next Saturday. I think duelling training might be rather useful."

"I already know how to duel," I said, "Dad taught me when I was younger," I did not mention the other bits, you know, the Demigod stuff, along with others.

"Oh, right, you live in America with its weird laws about underage magic, well, come along anyway, you might learn something."

I went to Lupin's extra Defence lessons, mainly to make sure he was teaching Harry right, he was, I carried on teaching Harry more about duelling on Hogsmeade days, having two people teaching him meant Harry was learning very quickly.

As soon as I could after I came back I went to see Professor Babbling, the ancient teacher was happy to see me, but also a bit saddened at the same time. "We don't have a lesson now Janet, so I assume you have something related to the world above New York. So, what's happened?" I told her about the quest and the Ophiotaurus, Mount Tam, Tala, everything, carefully leaving out Nico's parentage. "Hmm, that is a sticky situation," she said sympathetically, "but I have faith in the Gods, they have come through things just as bad unscathed. Why, there was that almost war thirty years ago, they smote the wrong person and almost were at war with another panth… oh look at me carrying on. I'm sorry you don't want to listen to this old crone's anecdotes. How are you finding that book I set you? my old friend China gave me a copy a while ago for my three hundredth birthday, she is a master of the magic language, there's nothing she can't do with it."

"It's a little difficult," I admitted, "there is so much precision required, if a line is too deep it fails and it is too shallow it fails. The syntax is awkward, for some reason it reads from the middle, something I keep forgetting."

"Indeed, but you are not really meant to read it, the magic language is usually used for enchanting or for augmenting oneself, it's difficult because it can be so powerful when mastered, but it takes a long time to master, it took me a couple of mortal lifetimes."

I did not learn anything from Lupin's extra classes until the early days of spring when Lupin took us to the astronomy tower, the astronomy tower is the second tallest tower at Hogwarts, beaten only by the divinations tower. It is comprised of a long spiral staircase with a small round room at the top, the room is made of several arches with telescopes in each arch, as it was daytime the tower was abandoned, in the middle of the room was a chest that had been chained to the floor.

"A Boggart recently took up residence in this chest," Lupin said a he strode over to it, "I will release the Boggart and it will hopefully turn into a Dementor, you will then conjure the patronus charm. The patronus charm is the only way to get rid of a Dementor known to mortal wizards, the Demigods probably have a way..." he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah," I nodded, "stab where their heart would be, if they were human, with a sword made of magical metal, usual thing for a monster," I said.

"Wait, he knows?" Harry asked looking between us accusingly, "it took you a year to let me know, even then it was Voldemort who told me, not you, yet Lupin comes along and you tell him within six months?"

"Lupin worked it out for himself," I said, "although he still hasn't told me how."

"I have my ways," Lupin said dismissively, "anyway, we are off topic. Harry will stand in front of the box when it opens, hopefully the Boggart will be a Dementor, Janet you will cast the spell expecto patronum, the spell will fail if you don't concentrate on your happiest memory, this is because Dementors feed on negative emotions and are repulsed by good emotions, the patronus is a part of your soul, the embodiment of your happiness, it scares away Dementors because it is pure happiness. Enough talk," he flicked his wand at the box, a Dementor slowly arose from the box.

" **Expecto Patronum** ," I cast focusing on a simple memory, it was of flying over Long Island Sound with Alice, a cloud of white energy appeared at the end of my wand and fizzled out. I tried again and this time a bird flew from my wand and repelled the Dementor, throwing it across the room.

The Dementor landed next to Lupin and turned into a full moon again, confusing me again, " **riddikulus** ," it turned into a balloon and flew back into the chest. "Good job Janet, you summoned your patronus, the form of your patronus has deep implications for your personality. There is a book about it in the library, somewhere, entitled: The Forms and Shapes of the Patronus and Animagi. It is a little dense, but you only need one section, Harry your turn."

Lupin opened the chest and the Dementor rose out the chest again, Harry lifted his wand shakily, "expecto, expecto patronum," nothing happened, the Dementor rose taller. There was a horrible chill breeze that appeared in the room, causing the flames of the torches on the walls to dance and writhe, making the monster seem even more scary, I shrank back out of reflex. " **Expecto Patronum** ," a white light appeared on the end of his wand, Harry's eyes rolled up, and he fell to the floor.

" **Riddikulus** ," the Boggart returned to the chest, Lupin rushed to Harry's side, "quickly," he handed him a chocolate frog, Harry took a bite out the offered chocolate.

"That's one nasty Dementor," Harry said weakly.

"Boggart Harry, the real thing would be much, much worse. Just out of interest, what were you both thinking of? What memory did you two choose?"

"Riding over the Long Island Sound on a pegasus with Alice," I said as I smiled happily at the memory, Lupin looked at me inquisitively before his eyes widened slightly and he nodded sagely.

"The first time I rode a broom," Harry said quietly.

"That's not good enough, Harry, not nearly," Harry glanced toward the window, at the setting sun.

There's another. It's not happy exactly, I mean, it is, it's the happiest I've ever felt. But it's... complicated." He said taking in a sharp breath.

"Is it strong?" Harry looks up into Lupin's eyes and nodded. "Then let's try it," Harry took a deep breath, ate the rest of the frog, pulled himself to his feet and readied himself.

"Think, Harry, think -" Lupin started before being cut off by Harry.

"Just do it," looking a little startled by Harry's level interruption, Lupin opened the chest and the Dementor rose to of it, Harry froze before raising his wand. " **Expecto patronum** ," the spell burst from the end of his wand, forming into a shape that looked like a tall four legged mammal, but which one I could not tell, the Dementor retreated into its chest.

"Well done," Lupin said happily

"I think I've had enough," Harry said weakly, "for today."

Lupin nodded and watched Harry move to the door, "just so you know, Harry, you'd have given your father a run for his money, believe me, that's saying something," Harry stopped and pondered this.

"I was thinking of him and Mum, Seeing their faces, they're just talking to me, Just... talking. That was the memory I chose, I don't even know if it's real…" Harry grips the door, pushes "it's the best I have." He walked out the room and shut the door behind him.

"He's very much his father's son," Lupin said to himself as he stared into space, a happy smile on his face.

"Professor," I said startling him, "I hate break up your reminiscing about old times, but I was hoping you had thought of a way to catch Pettigrew."

"Oh right, no, I haven't, Peter is a wily one, he won't expose himself unless he has to, which he won't, if Black was in the castle he could smell out Peter, but he isn't here."

"So, we have to get him into the castle?" I asked.

"No, no, no, that is an awful idea, it would make him more likely to get caught, no, we are by ourselves for this. Go back to your room Janet, we will catch Peter, in time, Black has waited fourteen years, he can wait a few more weeks." I did not agree with Lupin, but I left the astronomy tower and walked the lonely hallways by myself as I meandered my way back to the Common Room.


	46. Chapter 45

That night we were all summoned to the Common Room where McGonagall and Ron were having an argument. The entire house was there in pyjamas, except for McGonagall who was wearing a tartan robe. From what I had gathered, Black had entered their room with a knife, but had been scared off.

"That's preposterous, Weasley. How could Sirius Black possibly have got through the portrait hole?"

"I don't know how he got in!" He shouted, "I was a bit busy dodging his knife!" I snorted, the chances of Ron having the reflexes to dodge a knife was minimal, he probably hid under the bed, just then, a curiously content Crookshanks wend his way through Ron's legs, "and this bloody cat ate my rat!"

Hermione pushed her way through the crowd and grabbed her cat, "that's a lie!"

"It is not and you bloody well know it!" Ron shouted.

"Silence!" McGonagall shouted turns then and everyone follows her eye to the portrait of Sir Cadogan, who had been opened so he could attend the meeting, Sir Cadogan sensed the attention and perked up instantly. "Sir Cadogan, Is it possible that you let a mysterious man enter Gryffindor Tower tonight?"

"Certainly, good lady!" Cadogan said proudly, "he had the password, had the whole week's, in fact, on a little piece of paper."

"Which abysmally foolish person wrote down the passwords and then proceeded to lose them!" McGonagall practically shrieked in fury, most people present turned to look at Neville, McGonagall sighed. "Is it always going to be you, Mr Longbottom?"

"I'm afraid so, ma'am," Neville squeaked.

McGonagall sighed and turned to address the entire house, "while we know Sirius Black is gone tonight, I think you can safely assume he will, at some future time, attempt to return. Let me be clear, you are not to move about the castle alone, and you are not to write down the password! Understood!" A collective nod by the house as they agreed with her, McGonagall gave the ties of her robe a sharp tug, collected herself, and exited. "Very well then, go to bed." As the students drifted off, I meandered my way through the crowd to Ron, Harry and Hermione, Ron glared angrily at Hermione, who was still holding Crookshanks in her arms.

"I could've killed him," Harry muttered angrily as he stared out the window. "He was right there, close enough to touch, I could've killed him."

"Then you would be no better than him," I said as I walked over to him.

"But, I'd have avenged my parents, at least in part" Harry said angrily.

"An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind," I said as I remembered the old idiom.

"So, we just let him stay lose? Running around ready to murder again?" Harry hissed.

"No, but murdering him is not how justice works," I said calmly

"How do you always stay so calm?" Harry asked angrily, "through everything, you so rarely lose your cool, you're always so logical, you always stay so calm, it's infuriating."

I shrugged, "I guess it's just how I am, I know I can't afford to loose my temper, I must always think through my actions, because if I don't I could hurt someone." I said as I remembered the helicopter crew at Westover, when I almost killed them.

"I suppose so," Harry said darkly as he melted into the crowd of pupils that still dispersing.

"I don't like this," Alice said as she stood next to me, "I'm scared Harry is going to do something stupid, I think that scares me more than Black."

"I feel the same," I muttered.

* * *

The next morning Harry, Hermione, Ron, Alice, John and myself left the castle to see Hagrid about Buckbeak's tribunal, which had been the day before, which of course meant we had to listen to Ron and Hermione argue.

"I find it astonishing that someone who prides herself on being so logical can be in such denial," Ron shouted angrily. "Harry, will you explain to your friend Ronald that he has absolutely no proof whatsoever that my sweet, unassuming cat ate his shabby, decidedly decrepit rat."

"Shut up, both of you," John shouted, finally having enough of their bickering, "let's solve this logically, Ron tell me what happened, Hermione don't interrupt."

"Well, last night, when Black broke into Gryffindor Tower, her mangy moggy was chasing poor Scabbers around. Then later at the house meeting, her cat trotted in looking as pleased as punch, and since then I haven't been able to find Scabbers. So, the only logical explanation is that her fleabag ate my rat."

"Your turn Hermione," John said turning to Hermione.

"That's not true," Hermione said angrily, "yes Crookshanks was chasing around Scabbers, but he would never hurt him. It's more likely that Scabbers ran away from Crookshanks and has been in hiding since, or Ron just lost him, or trapped him in a cupboard, which has happened several times before. The only evidence you have is circumstantial."

John hummed as he stared off into space, "I think Hermione is right, she is right Ron, your only evidence is circumstantial, you have not found blood or remains of any kind. If a cat had eaten your rat it would have left something like that. Have you checked your cupboards?" Ron blushed, and his mouth opened and closed as he tried to think of a response.

Hagrid was standing knee deep in the lake skimming stones the size of flagstones. He was wearing a massive hairy brown suit that looked like it was made with rough horse hair, and a hideous orange and yellow tie, he turned to face us as we approached. His eyes red with tears, "how'd it go, Hagrid?" Harry asked, but we all knew the answer.

"Buckbeak liked London," Hagrid muttered.

"I meant the hearing," Harry said.

Hagrid sighed and slumped, like a balloon that had the air let out of it, "oh. That. Well, I got up an' said my bit, You know, 'ow Buckbeak was a good Hippogriff an' as long as yeh treated 'im with respect, 'e'd trea' yrh the same. Then Lucius Malfoy got up an' said 'is bit, you know, 'ow Buckbeak was a deadly dangerous beast that no teacher in their righ' mind would expose their third year students to…" His voice broke and he stopped.

"And...?" Hermione asked quietly, but we all knew the response, Hagrid threw another rock into water. "You mustn't blame yourself, Hagrid."

"Draco," Ron hissed, "it's him the Committee should punish, it's him they should send off to the forest, not Buckbeak.

"Buckbeak's not going back to the forest…" Hagrid said sadly as threw a stone so far it was lost from view until it created a massive splash.

"Where's he going, Hagrid?" Alice squeaked nervously, her face pale.

"'e asked fer the worse, yeh see, Lucius Malfoy did, an', an' the Committee gran'ed it. Buckbeak's bin sentenced ter death," Alice started crying, I walked to her side and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Shh, we'll think of something, just you see," I said quietly, I knew it was a lie, so did Alice as she continued crying, I pulled her into a hug, "Alice, please, stop crying," I whispered. Alice choked back sobs as she looked me in the eye, her rainbow eyes wet with tears staring into my dark brown ones. I blushed and looked away.

* * *

A few days later I was coming back to the Common Room after spending the evening in the library, and accidently falling asleep, as I neared the Common Room I saw a shadow appear in the corridor, I quickly pulled the Mist about myself to make myself hard to focus on. Expecting the worst I watched Harry walk passed, following what looked like a map, curious, I followed, Harry walked down hallways seemingly without rhyme or reason, we must have walked around half the castle until Harry almost walked into a mirror. I heard footsteps approach and pressed myself up against the wall. Harry folded the map and turned around as Snape walked around the corner, the bright light of his wand harsh in the darkness.

"Potter. What're you doing wandering the corridors at night?"

Harry panicked, "I was... I was... sleepwalking?" Snape sneered, I moved closer so I could hear what was going on. Snape froze and turned to face me, I felt his mind probe for mine, I hid my mind from him.

"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter." Snape said acidly, "he, too, was exceedingly arrogant. Strutting about the castle -"

Harry interrupted angrily, "my dad didn't strut, nor do I. Now, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate you lowering your wand." Snape glared icily at him, but lowered his wand.

"You may as well reveal yourself Miss Harker," I cursed silently, but I removed the Mist I was using to conceal myself. "Before you asked, I heard you once and know that you are the only pupil who is both an occlumencer and able to conceal herself so well. Turn out your pockets Mr Potter." Harry didn't move, he was still glaring at Snape. "Turn out your pockets!" Snape shouted, Harry begrudgingly obliged. Harry revealed the folded up map, Snape's eyes glittered excitedly, which was really creepy, "and this. What might it be?"

Harry shrugged, "spare bit of parchment."

Snape sneered again, "Really?" He raised his wand, "Reveal your secret!" Harry stared in horror as words appeared on the parchment, Snape studied him, a sadistic half-smile on his lips. "Read it." He handed it back to Harry.

"'Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs offer their compliments to Professor Snape and…" He froze.

Snape frowned angrily, "go on."

Harry swallowed nervously, "and request that he keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."

"Why you insolent little -" Snape shouted as he raised his wand.

"Professor...?" Lupin called down the hallway.

Snape turned to see Lupin standing in the shadows, "well, well, Lupin, out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?" Snape asked with a sneer that was even more contemptuous than the one he reserved for Harry.

"Harry? Janet? You all right?" Lupin asked as he ignored Snape's attitude.

"That remains to be seen," Snape said through gritted teeth I've just now confiscated a rather curious artefact from Mr. Potter, take a look, Lupin, this is supposed to be your area of expertise." Lupin took the parchment, which now had a rather unflattering caricature of Snape and a pair of potions, "clearly, it's full of Dark Magic."

"I seriously doubt that, Severus. It looks to me as if it merely insults anyone who tries to read it, I suspect it's a Zonko product. Nevertheless, I shall pursue any hidden qualities it may possess, as you say, it's my area of expertise. What of Miss Harker?

"Miss Harker was merely skulking in the shadows, apparently testing some powerful concealment spells, I was going to take ten points for being out past curfew and then send her back to Gryffindor Tower."

Lupin frowned, but nodded, "very well. Come, Harry, I will look at your insulting piece of parchment." He walked off down the corridor in the direction of his office.

"Run along now Miss Harker, you may be a Demigod, but that does not give you special privileges for roaming the halls, but thank you for looking out for him," Snape turned and stormed off in a swirl of robes.

As I made my way back to the Common Room I pondered why the Hades Snape would thank me for looking out for his least favourite pupil. Cadogan stood up in his picture frame as I approached, "what time do you call this young lady? Out having a moonlight rendezvous?"

I blushed, "no, I fell asleep in the library, I only just woke up, now then, Black Shuck, let me in," Cadogan narrowed his eyes, but swung open.

"I'll be watching you madame, first Mr Potter left following that damn map, thought I'd seen the end of that map with his father, now you coming in at this hour of night," I ignored the paranoid knight as I made my way to my room.


	47. Chapter 46

The next morning was divinations, I was really not in mood for the slightly crazy Trelawney, who had predicted death on the entire class by now, as well as several minor catastrophes, several of which actually came true. I was convinced she was a minor seer, whilst Hermione was sure she was just a batty old lady who got lucky by the sheer number of predictions she made. We had just started with the crystal ball, which had proved to be hilarious for one God of Prophecy, who had taken up sending strange messages to the class in Ancient Greek, messages Alice, John or I had to translate. Alice got; _your friend shall be haunted by intestinally challenged cows_ , John got _a hundred hands will save you and yours_ , and Harry got; _big noses are friendly._ None of this made sense, especially as the only big nose we knew was Snape, who was the definition of unfriendly. Several students also got awful haikus that neither fitted the syllable pattern, or predicted the future, this annoyed Trelawney to no end as she tried to get anyone to see anything, My ball had given up and just had a picture of Apollo's face and a message that read _this function is unavailable at the moment, we are sorry for any inconvenience._

"Relax... Let your mind... go…" Trelawney said as she moved to light another incense stick, something that would be less help than a proverbial chocolate teapot. "Crystal-gazing requires that you clear the Inner Eye, only then, will you... See, oh my, what do we have here...?" Trelawney asked as she walked over and looked into Harry's crystal ball, Apollo had apparently become bored with messing with us and an actual image was forming in the smokes of his ball.

"Here we go again. It's the Grim! It's the Grim!" Hermione announced in a poor attempt at an impression of the batty Professor.

Trelawney's normal unfocused eyes focused on Hermione and glared at her, "my dear," she said in a far stronger voice than any of us had ever heard her use. "From the moment you first arrived in my class, I sensed that you did not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination. You may be young in years, but the heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shrivelled as an old maid's, your soul is as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave." Hermione huffed angrily and her jaw worked as she tried to think of a response, thinking of none she rose and marched out the room, knocking over the crystal ball as she left.

"In late spring, one of our number will leave us forever!" Lavender squeaked in excitement, "you knew, Professor, you saw."

"On these occasions," Trelawney said sadly as she removed her glasses and rubbed her eye with the back of her hand, "I take no joy in my gift, Miss Brown."

"She's gone mental, Hermione has, I mean, not that she wasn't always mental, but now it's out in the open for everyone to see." Ron said as we left the Divinations Room, he had apparently had an argument with Hermione and Harry the night before, and now all three were avoiding each other and Alice who had tried to break up the argument. None of them would tell me what had been said or even what the argument was about, but all I knew was that it had ended with wands drawn and Hermione almost challenging Ron to a duel before Alice broke them up. I got a feeling it was probably over the rat and cat again, so when Ron saw me walking next to Harry he stormed off with Neville in pursuit.

"You have got to make up with him, this is could end up being ridiculous," I said to Harry.

"Eventually," Harry said distractedly as he bent down and picked up the ball Hermione had knocked off its perch when she had so dramatically left the room. He turned around went back into the main divinations room, I sighed and followed him, he put the ball down in its cradle and froze before jumping back from the ball. Professor Trelawney had been standing behind it, she shuffled over to us, her eyes the same entirely pure glowing green that the Oracles were when she gave a prophecy. Trelawney opened her mouth and I expect green smoke, I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed when none emerged, when she spoke it was with the Oracle's voice.

"He will return tonight.

Tonight, when the clock strikes twelve, the servant shall break free.

He and his Master shall be reunited.

It cannot be prevented." Her head slumped and I barely caught her as she fell forwards, I lay her down on the ground.

"Is she dead?" Harry asked.

"Mortals, first response is to always ask if something is dead, no of course not, she had a prophetic moment, the spirit of Oracle of Delphi or another Oracle used her to deliver a message, think of it as a temporary possession."

"So what did it mean?" Harry asked.

"Oh, probably something nasty, it may not even apply to us, but I have feeling it does, some Death Eater or another will probably escape and meet a master, or even better a monster joined the Titans' army. It doesn't really matter until it starts to come true, by the way, what were you doing last night?"

"I was following a name on the marauder's map, it shows where everyone is in the castle, the twins gave it to me, they pinched it from Filch."

"What name?" I asked curiously.

"Peter Pettigrew," Harry said making my ice run cold, "I think she's coming around," Trelawney was indeed stirring.

"What happened?" Trelawney asked as she groggily sat up.

"Easy, you had a prophetic moment," I helped her to stand and sat her in a chair.

"Oh, what did I say?" I repeated the prophecy to her, her face becoming progressively paler as I said it to her, "hmm, that is not good, I must tell Dumbledore," she stood and almost collapsed, "later, I will tell him later."

"Professor Dumbledore has so much on his mind, there is no need to bother him, especially as we don't know if the prophecy applies to us. There are several cases throughout history of people receiving prophecies that were not relevant to them. I do not think this one applies to us as it talks about someone who was imprisoned being freed, the only bad guy we have around here is Black, and he is anything except imprisoned."

"I suppose you are right young one, I think I need a nap," she got up from the chair she was sitting in and stumbled her way across the room until she vanished behind a curtain.

"Why don't you want Dumbledore to know?" Harry asked.

"For exactly the reason I said to Trelawney, come on Harry, we have a lesson to get to."


	48. Chapter 47

That evening was Buckbeak's execution, we made our way down to Hagrid's little hut by the forest, Harry, Hermione and Ron were continuing their ignoring each other game, much to the annoyance of Alice, John, Hermione and myself, they had made up with Alice, but not each other. "I can't believe they're going to kill Buckbeak!" Hermione said for the hundredth time as we passed through the Sundial Garden, which was really just a square patch of grass with a sundial in the middle and some scraggly bushes around the edge, "it's too horrible."

Harry stopped, "it just got worse," he said angrily, he pointed at a cluster of menhirs just beyond the edge. Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and four other students who I did not recognise from the lower years were crouched behind the stones with binoculars in hand as they spied on Hagrid. "Did you see the big, fat blubbering oaf? Oh, this is going to be rich, did I tell you, Father said I can keep the head?" He looked up and smiled when he saw us coming, "ah, come to see the show?"

"You... foul... loathsome...evil... little cockroach…" Hermione shouted, Malfoy stumbled back against a tree, cross-eyed with fear as Hermione jabbed the tip of her wand under his nose

"Hermione! No!" Ron shouted, she turned, surprised Ron was speaking, let alone to save Draco, Ron looked away. "He's not worth it," he mumbled, she nodded and punched Draco on the chin, he fell over as Crabbe and Goyle rush to help him up.

"Get her!" He shouted, his face red with fury and embarrassment, his companions reach for their wand, as do my friends.

"Stop!" I shouted, "Draco, take your friends and leave, if anyone draws their wand I will turn them into a shrubbery."

Draco hesitated before turning and running away, his associates following him, "it's a shame to see Draco corrupting the next generation," John said as he watched them retreat.

"That felt good," Hermione said happily as she rubbed her knuckles.

"Come on," I said as we set off down the slope to the pumpkin patch next to Hagrid's house.

* * *

When we arrived Buckbeak was happily chewing on a ferret, when he saw Alice he bowed, she bowed back. "I'll stay out here and keep Buckbeak company, don't worry, I won't let him go, I know that'll just get Hagrid in trouble." She walked over to the Hippogriff and started stroking his beak and feathers as Buckbeak made happy sounds at her.

We went inside, "'allo," Hagrid said sadly as he sat slumped in his chair, Hermione immediately went to make a cup of tea, "I shoulda expected ya," he looked out the window and smiled sadly, "'e loves 'er does ol' Buckbeak. 'e really loves the smell o' the trees when the wind blows…" He sighed sadly as he stared out the window

"I say we set him free," Harry said angrily, evidently not hearing what Alice had said earlier.

"No," Hagrid said whilst shaking his head, "they'd know I did it, an' tha' would only get Dumbledore in trouble. Gonna come down, yeh know, says 'e wants ter be wit' me when it... when it 'appens," he sighed sadly, "great man, Dumbledore." It was hard to see the usually cheerful Hagrid sit in his chair so utterly dejected.

"We'll stay with you too, Hagrid," John volunteered.

"Yeh will not!" Hagrid exclaimed, startling Hermione who had just brought over a tray of tea, "think I wan' yeh seein' a thing like this!" John, Alice and I exchanged a glance, "no, yeh'll drink yer tea an' be off, but before yeh do, I wan' ter see you an' Ron shake hands, 'arry." Ron and Harry exchanged a glance, then look to Hagrid. "Thin' I haven' seen 'ow it's bin betw'n you two? Go on now…" Reluctantly, Harry and Ron extended their hands and shook them awkwardly, "good, now then Ron, I wan' ter see you give 'ermione a 'ug."

"What!" Hermione and Ron shouted simultaneously.

"Go on! You two've been at it all year, an' I'm sick o' it," acutely uncomfortable, Hermione and Ron stepped forward and share what was perhaps the most awkward hug Hogwarts has ever seen. "Crikey, tha's jus' abou' the most pathetic hug I e'er seen. But yeh did it, an' tha's wha' matters, there's jus' one other thing…"

"I'm not kissing Fang if that's what you're thinking…" Ron grumbled, Fang perked up at the sound of his name. Hagrid chuckled as he took the lid off a tin of flour that was on his table, out poked a little head, it was Scabbers. "Scabbers you're alive," Ron said happily as he picked up his rat.

"Yeh should keep a closer eye on yer pets, Ron," Hagrid said half smiling.

"I think you owe someone an apology," Hermione said.

"Right, next time I see Crookshanks, I'll let him know," Ron said dismissively.

"I meant me," Hermione said angrily.

"Crikey, 'ere we go agin…" Hagrid said whilst he rubbed his face by the side of his eyes.

Alice burst in the door, "company," we rushed to the window, Lucius Malfoy, Cornelius Fudge, Dumbledore and a black hooded executioner with a giant axe over his shoulder were making their way down from the castle.

"Yeh got to go!" Hagrid said in a panic, "it's almost dark, anyone sees yeh outside the castle it'll be trouble! Big trouble! 'Specially you, 'arry." He said in a flustered panic as he led us out the back-door just as a banging starts at the front.

We circled around to pass Buckbeak one last time, there was a squawk and dozens of crows took off from the roof and started circling Buckbeak, who stood very still, his head lowered.

Just then, the wind sounded like it was shushing us, which was odd as there was no wind. Hermione turned, the branches of the trees behind her were dancing oddly. "What?" Harry asked quietly.

"Nothing, I just thought I saw... Never mind," she said as she turned back to the rest of us as we slowly make our way. We slipped silently into a stand of trees where we could not see Buckbeak, in front of us, Hagrid's hut glimmered desolately in the dying sun. High in the clock tower, the bell began to toll.

DING! We stopped, everyone fighting back tears, I put my arm around Alice's shoulder.

DING! A quartet of shadowy figures filed from the hut. One of the shadows, probably Dumbledore, raised his hand and pointed, directing the attention of the others away to the beautiful sunset. Dumbledore spoke briefly. Unintelligible from the distance. The crows shriek excitedly and

DING! The Executioner separated from the others, he disappeared behind the low trees that hid Buckbeak from us.

DING! All went very still. What little wind there was died.

DING! The dying sunlight flickered off the axe as it rose over the trees, just into our field of view.

DING! The axe hung in the air seemingly forever. Then time seemed to stop. Then the axe dropped from sight.

CHOP! The sound shattered the calm. Ron and Harry stared toward the trees in numb disbelief. Hermione, turned away and trembled. John sat down in the grass as he stared at the source of the sound. Alice burst into silent tears as I hugged and talked quietly to her.

DING! Apollo finally left the sky. Dropping behind the mountains in the distance. His departure turning the sky red. Hermione turned back to the rest of us. A frenzied spray of crows stain the bloody sky, their horrific shrieks rising like a curse. Slowly, Hermione's hand fell onto Ron's shoulder, Ron yelped in pain.

"He bit me…" Ron said bring up his hand to reveal a bleeding finger, I spun to see Scabbers streaking away, Ron gave chase.

"Ron! No!" Hermione shouted as she ran after him, the rest of us following. We chased Ron and Scabbers halfway across the school grounds until we reached a ridge where Hermione stopped us, on the other side Ron was holding Scabbers under a tall gnarled tree with thick branches. It was the Whomping Willow.

"Harry. You do realize what tree this is…" Hermione said with dread in her voice.

"That's not good," Harry said, eyes wide with panic. "Ron! Run!" He shouted. Quick as a flash a big black dog jumped over us and ran down to Ron, he grabbed Ron by the foot and dragged him into a hole under the Whomping Willow. Harry and Hermione cursed as they ran down after Ron.

"Black's here," I muttered, I turned to Alice, she was still pretty shook up by Buckbeak's execution, "Alice get Professor Lupin, tell him what happened and where we are, we will probably need help, if you can't get Lupin, Snape will do," she nodded and ran off.

I turned back to see Harry and Hermione losing a fight with the willow, I pulled Harry out the way of a branch just before it squashed him. Hermione had somehow ended up caught in the branches, and was now clinging on for dear life. Hermione grabbed Harry on the way through and together the pair got thrown into the hole at the base of the trunk. The willow returned to its normal position, "ready John?" I asked.

"Not really, but let's do this anyway," we ran down the hill and jumped through the hole just before the Willow smashed at the hole, "that was too close," he said, his voice a little shaky.

"Come on," I said, smothering my panicking thoughts about the idea that we were now stuck under a murderous tree. We made our way through the tunnel that led us forward for what felt like miles, it was just dirt held up in places with rotting wood.


	49. Chapter 48

"I don't like this, it feels too much like a monster's lair," John said, "I suppose if that was Black, this is a monster's lair."

"I'm not sure Black is a monster," I said.

John stopped, "what do you mean?" He asked suspiciously.

I sighed, "let's walk and talk. The charges against Black was that he was publicly the secret keeper of James and Lily Potter, he betrayed them to Voldemort and then went off to kill Peter Pettigrew to the point where he vaporised him, except for one finger. Except that makes no sense, the identity of a secret keeper is kept private and unobvious, so whilst Black was publicly the secret keeper, in private it would have been someone else. Furthermore, if he was a death eater, then attacking Pettigrew makes no sense, especially after the fall of his Master. Now, assume Pettigrew was the the secret keeper and everything makes more sense, he was a cowardly man who everyone overlooked, so it would make sense for him to be secret keeper. Black was James Potter's best friend, so he would have known who the secret keeper was, now imagine you are Sirius Black, you hear your friend has been betrayed by the secret keeper who only you know the identity of. What do you do?"

"Go get revenge," John said quietly, "you're right, that does make more sense, I knew something was nagging at me about that, so Black murdered Pettigrew in revenge. Then, why is he here?"

"He thought he murdered Pettigrew, Pettigrew and Black are animagus, like McGonagall, Pettigrew turns into a..." I stopped, "Scabbers is missing a toe, he's well over the life expectancy of the average rat," I cursed and ran down the tunnel, John called my name before chasing after me.

At the far side the tunnel ended in a wall, above my head light shone through a hole that had been broken through the floorboards of a room, barely stopping I vaulted out the hole and into a decrepit room made of loose fitting planks and full of broken furniture. Splodges of what was probably dried blood were all over the floor, I walked quickly and quietly through the small rooms as I followed two sets of footprints, one set of dog prints and bloody drag marks through the layers of dust. I heard raised voices from a room in above me, I ran up the stairs and into the room, John close behind me.

* * *

Ron was sitting, cradling his bloody foot, on a filthy old bed that was covered in dust, Harry and Hermione had their wands pointed at a tall, gaunt man in ragged clothing. He was more than gaunt, he looked like a corpse with skin pulled painfully tight over the bones of his face, "Sirius Black I do presume," I said.

"Miss Harker, you look just like your mother," he said narrowing his eyes, "your father took twelve years of my life when he threw me in that cell," his brown eyes shimmered with madness.

"Janet, be careful," Harry said.

"Did you get him?" I asked, Black's eyes widened.

"Not yet, I thought I got him twelve years ago, but alas, he escaped," he scratched at his long, filthy, matted brown hair.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, "of course he didn't get me, I'm right here."

I was about to explain when the door was flung open and in walked Lupin, "looking a bit ragged, aren't we, Sirius? Finally the skin reflects the madness within."

Black smiled ferally, "you'd know all about the madness within, wouldn't you, Remus?" The two glared at each other each other, the moment taut with tension, then Lupin stepped forward and embraced Black like a brother.

"No! I trusted you! I covered up for you, and all this time you've been his friend!" She pointed at Lupin, "he's a Werewolf! That's why he's been missing classes!" Harry and Ron stared, dumbfounded, at Lupin, John looked like he had just solved a very hard arithmancy puzzle, I rolled my eyes at the others. Black howled with laughter Lupin glared at him, then turned back to Hermione.

"How long have you known?" Lupin asked.

"Since Professor Snape set the essay."

"You're truly one of the brightest witches of your age I've ever met, Hermione." Lupin said fondly,

"Yes," Black said doing a weirdly excellent impression of Mr D's bored voice, "you glow like the sun, and you howl at the moon," Sirius suddenly turned back to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Enough talk! He dies, now, if you won't do it with me, Remus, I'll do it alone."

"Wait, Sirius," Lupin called.

"I did my waiting!" Black screamed "twelve years of it! In Azkaban! Trust me, you wouldn't have lasted a week!" Lupin eyed Black, then nodded.

"All right then," Lupin said sadly, "as you wish…"

"No!" Harry shouted and raised his wand, " **expelliarmus** ," he disarmed Lupin, he turned to Black, and glared at him murderously. "You betrayed my parents! You sold them to Voldemort!"

"It's a lie! I never would've betrayed James and Lily!" Black sobbed as though Harry's words had hurt him.

"Harry!" Lupin called, "you've got to listen -"

"Did he listen! When my mother was dying! Did he hear her screaming!"

"No! I wasn't there! And I'll regret it the rest of my life!" Furiously Harry pointed his wand at unarmed Sirius Black.

I clicked my fingers and Harry's flew out if his hand and into mine, Harry stared at me in shock, "Janet?" He whispered, "why?"

"I'm sorry Harry, I could not let you become a murderer over nothing," I said.

"Nothing!" Harry shouted, "this man sold my parents to Voldemort! He basically killed them! That is not nothing! That is a big something!"

"No, he didn't, " I said as I calmly tucked an errant lock of hair behind my ear, "tell him Professor."

Lupin, who had retrieved his wand, sighed, "someone else betrayed your parents, Harry, someone in this room right now, someone who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead."

"He's as good as dead," Black exclaimed as he glared at Ron.

"What're you talking about?" Harry asked in angry confusion, "there's nobody here."

"Oh yes there is…" Black turned to Ron, and crooned in a cruel sing song, "come out, come out, Peter. Come out, come out and play…" Ron drew back from Black's demented gaze.

"You're mad…" Ron said in absolute fear, I looked down at Ron's hand, where Scabbers twisted violently.

As a curious expression befell Harry, Lupin and Black, as one, Lupin, John and myself raise our wands, when, " **expelliarmus**!" Snape cast from the doorway, the wands flew from our hands. We turned to find Snape standing in the doorway, smiling smugly, "ah, vengeance is sweet," he said eyeing Black, "how I hoped I'd be the one to catch you."

"Severus -" Lupin implored

"I told Dumbledore you were helping your old friend into the castle," Snape said grinning cruelly at Lupin, "and here's the proof."

"Brilliant!" Black said with a bitter laugh, "and, as usual, dead wrong, now give us our wands back. Remus and I have a bit of unfinished business to tend to," Black walked towards him, Snape put his wand to Black's neck, stopping him in his tracks.

"Give me a reason," he hissed, "I beg you."

"Don't be a fool Severus!" Lupin implored.

"He can't help it," Black said darkly to himself, "it's habit by now."

"Quiet Sirius," Lupin hissed

"Listen to you two," Snape said clicking his tongue, "quarrelling like an old married couple, the creature and the criminal, how quaint"

"Piss off," Black said.

"Witty as ever I see, tell me, will you be so irreverent when I turn you over to the Dementors?" Black flinched at the thought, "do I detect a flicker of fear? One can only imagine what it must be like to endure the Dementor's Kiss, it's said to be unbearable to witness, but, I'll do my best."

"Stop it Snape," I said.

"You have no right to address me like that you insolent girl," Snape snapped, "I don't care who you are, I am arresting this criminal."

"We both know you that you can't beat me in a duel, so lower your wand, stop talking and listen," Snape pointed his wand at me, I sighed and clicked my fingers, Snape flew backwards into wall and slid to the floor.

Ron, Harry and Hermione stared at me in shock. "Janet, you attacked a teacher," Hermione said.

"I gave him warning," I said with a shrug, "now, let's get on with this."

"You said Peter before," Harry said, "Peter who?"

"Pettigrew," Lupin said sadly, "he was at school with us, we thought he was a friend."

"No," Harry said, "Pettigrew's dead, he killed him." Harry pointed at Black, causing Black to laugh mirthlessly.

"I thought so too," Lupin said, "until Janet brought some discrepancies to light, then I was sceptical until you mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the Map."

"The Map was lying then," Harry said.

"The Map never lies," Black said firmly, "Pettigrew's alive, and he's right there," Black pointed at Ron.

Ron went white with fear. "M-me? It's lunacy..."

"Not you, you idiot!" Black shouted, "your rat."

"Scabbers?" Ron asked dumbfounded, "Scabbers has been in my family for-"

"Twelve years," Black said darkly, "a curiously long life for a common garden rat. He's missing a toe, isn't he?" Black unfolded a dog-eared clipping from The Daily Prophet, it showed Ron in Egypt with his family, Scabbers on his shoulder.

"So what?" Ron asked angrily

"All they could find of Pettigrew was his -" Harry said realisation dawning.

"Finger," Black interrupted, "dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead, then he transformed into a rat."

Harry stared into Black's sunken eyes, he glanced at Ron, Scabbers started squealing in fright as he squirmed in Ron's grasp. "Show me," Harry said, Lupin and Black turned to Ron, who held Scabbers protectively.


	50. Chapter 49

"What are you going to do to him?" Ron asked, he had gone as pale as a sheet.

Sirius and Lupin exchange a glance, "together," Black said, with that, Lupin took out his wand and, as one, he and Black cast a stream of magic, Scabbers twists madly in midair, then with a sudden flash transformed into a short, stout man with small watery blue eyes, thinning brown hair and ragged clothing. Peter Pettigrew.

"S-Sirius, R-Remus, my old friends," Peter stuttered, neither spoke, Pettigrew's eyes dart toward the windows and door. Suddenly, he makes a break for it, dodging round Sirius, he ran passed me, I made no move to stop him, he ran headfirst into the shield I put over the door, he hit the shield and felt the floor. Sirius came over and hauled him to his feet, Peter's nose twitched, his gaze darting around the room until he found Harry. His hands fluttered nervously, revealing the missing finger, "Harry! Look at you! Y-you look just like your father. Like James. We were the best of friends, he and I-"

"Shut up!" Sirius shouted punching the rat faced man in the face.

"Harry," I said, "I present Peter Pettigrew, your parents' secret keeper and traitorous death eater."

"I didn't mean to!" Pettigrew shouted shielding his face, "the Dark Lord, you have no idea the tortures he possesses! Ask yourself what you would have done, Sirius. What would you have done?"

"Died!" Black shouted angrily as he punched Peter in the face again. "Died rather than betray my friends! And you should have realized, Peter, if Voldemort didn't kill you…"

"We would," Lupin finished raising his wand

"No... please... you can't…" his eyes darted wildly, "Ron! Haven't I been a good friend? A good pet? You won't let them kill me, will you? I was your rat…" Ron drew back in disgust, Pettigrew panicked and turned to Hermione. "Sweet girl. Clever girl. Surely you won't let them…" Hermione pointed her own wand at him, he turned to me, "surely halfling, surely you understand, please, protect me."

"I understand loyalty, not cowardice, if Lupin and Black had not already claimed your death I would kill you myself," Pettigrew drew back from me. As one, Lupin and Black raised their wands, pointing them directly into Pettigrew's face, he shrank back trembling, he closed his eyes in fear.

"No," Harry said, Pettigrew's lids lifted, Lupin and Black turned.

"Harry, this man…" Lupin said.

"I know what he is, but we'll take him to the castle."

"Bless you, boy! Bless you -" Pettigrew shouted in joy as he grabbed at Harry.

"Get off! I said we'd take you to the castle, after that, the Dementors can have you."

"Hang on," I said as I cast a spell on Peter, "just so you don't run off, I put a spell on you that allows me to track you and send you to sleep from a distance. If you do run off, you will make me angry, and you don't want that." Pettigrew squeaked and nodded, his eyes wide with fright.

* * *

We had to deal with Peter's panicked speech through the entire tunnel, it got worse when we left the tunnel and he got more panicked, "turn me into a maggot, a dung beetle, a Flobberworm! Anything but the Dementors…" He trailed off as Ron emerged from the tunnel he grabbed at him as desperately as Tantalus grabbed at an éclair. "Ron! Haven't I been a good friend? A good pet? You won't let them kill me, will you? I was your rat…" Ron drew back in disgust from the pathetic little man. Snape emerged from the tunnel followed by Hermione, he bumped his head against a low tree branch. He was under the Somnambulist charm, so he did little except duck under the low tree limbs, but Ron still jumped half out of his skin.

"Don't worry," Hermione said as she stifled a laugh at Ron's reaction, "he's under the Somnambulist Charm. It's primarily used to transport the seriously deranged." Ron nodded and visibly relaxed.

Seeing Hermione Pettigrew ran over to her and grabbed the hem of her robe, "please sweet girl... you can't let them turn me over to those... monsters, what of due process?" Hermione tugged her robes from Pettigrew's sweaty grasp with a disgusted yank.

"Enough of that Peter," I said as I levelled my wand at him, "if you try to plead with us again, I will put you under the Somnambulist. Understand?" Peter swallowed and nodded, miming him zipping up his lips and throwing away the key.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Black said as he stared at the imposing shadow of Hogwarts, its windows shimmering like a thousand fireflies and its towers reaching up like daggers. "I'll never forget the first time I walked through those doors. It'll be nice to do it again. Freely." He turned to Harry, "that was a noble thing you did back there. He doesn't deserve it."

Harry looked over at me, and then down to the cowering form of Peter, "I don't reckon my father'd want his best friends to become killers for a worthless piece of vermin like Pettigrew. Besides, dead, the truth dies with him. Alive... you're free."

"I don't know if you know," Black said slowly, "Harry, but when you were born, James and Lily made me your guardian, your godfather."

"I know," Harry said sadly.

"And, well," Black said awkwardly, as though he could not think of the words for the ideas and emotions he wanted to convey, "I'll understand if you choose to stay with your aunt and uncle, but, so you know, you could -"

"Come live with you?" Harry asked excitedly, his eyes shining in excitement. "When!"

"Soon as my name's cleared and I'm allowed to adopt you…" Black said, obviously happy with Harry's reply, Harry looked out at Hogwarts and grinned widely, Black did the same.

The moment was broken by a choking sound and Hermione's voice loud and quivering in the quiet, "Harry…" We turned to see Lupin standing rigidly, his fingers twitching as he stared in pure fear at the sky. I follow his gaze, he is staring at the moon, not just any moon, a full moon, I cursed. "Remus, old friend…" Black said, his voice tinged with worry and fear, "did you take your potion tonight?" Lupin, twitched violently before managing to shake his head, I suddenly felt very cold as my blood started pumping quickly. "Run! All of you! Now!" Black shouted, but, none of us do as we watched, held by a spell of curiosity as bristles poked through Lupin's skin. Unafraid, Black stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Lupin. "You know the man you truly are, Remus. This flesh is only flesh," he tapped Lupin on the chest, "this heart is where you truly live. This heart! Here!" He shouted.

Lupin dropped his wand, Pettigrew leapt forward, grabbing the wand. "No!" Harry shouted raising his wand, " **Expelliarmus**!" Lupin's wand flew from Pettigrew's hand and he froze. Then slowly turned to us. Face blank, eyes closed, he grinned hideously, and collapsed to the ground as Sirius hit his elbow into the back of his head. A howl pierced the sudden silence of Pettigrew's collapse. We turned to face a very angry Werewolf facing off against John, who was armed with his wand and a branch, and was only just holding the Werewolf at bay. Black charged his friend, but, with a shrug, Lupin tossed Black into the air, then turned to us. Black's charge had given John enough time to scramble back to us. Lupin was no longer human. He was the Werewolf.


	51. Chapter 50

Harry and Hermione began to edge back as I pulled off my bracelet and turned it into a sword, I prayed I would not need to use it, "Professor...?" Hermione asked. The Werewolf's, I refused to think of it as Lupin, eyes blazed. Long teeth glittered with spittle. Then a terrible growl erupted from its throat, John and I edged away from the monster. Harry and Hermione spun and ran straight into Snape, together they collapsed into a clumsy pile, Snape's eyes fluttered open, the had spell broken. Seeing Hermione atop him, he swept her aside... "Out of the way!" He shouted angrily as he sat up and found himself facing a Werewolf. Snape leapt to his feet, drew his wand and stepped forward, shielding Hermione, Harry and Ron. The Werewolf howled and sprang forward, when a giant Black Dog intercepted it in midair.

They hit the ground in a flashing claws and gnashing teeth, a single horrible flailing pile of nightmares. Again and again, the dog pushed the Werewolf back, but the Werewolf was too strong and slashed at the dog "Sirius!" Harry shouted Sirius yelped as a blow connected and sent him flying into the long grass. As the Werewolf charges after, Harry pushed past Snape and charged off into the night. Hermione made to follow, but Snape held her back as he readied himself, I intercepted the monstrosity that used to be out Defence teacher.

"Oh no you don't," I said as I hit on the side of the head with the flat of my blade, the creature screamed a terribly human scream as my silver sword burned its face. The creature ran back into the clearing, putting as much distance as possible between itself and me, "get Pettigrew and get out," I shouted to the others, "John and I can hold off this long enough to get you a head-start, we will rendezvous back at the castle. Pettigrew's going to trial is more important than us."

"Pettigrew is alive? Shame," Snape said, he looked over at the unconscious Pettigrew. "But I will not leave two of my students to face this monster alone."

"We can handle ourselves," I said, but Snape was determined, "fine, John, you go with them, they will need help carrying Pettigrew."

"I, I…" John started to protest, but he stopped, "very well," he ran over to where Pettigrew was lying.

The monster had snuck up behind us while we were talking, I was suddenly knocked from my feet onto the floor as a sudden weight landed on my back, I was pinned on top of my sword, I could smell its foul breath as it breathed down my neck. (How did its breath smell of decaying meat when it had been Lupin only moments earlier?) The Werewolf was suddenly knocked from my back by a bright flash, "you have certainly demonstrated that ability to look after yourself that you were boasting of earlier Miss Harker," Snape said without any visible emotion. I stood and dusted myself down, John had one of Pettigrew's arms over his shoulder and was half lifting, half dragging him away, "make sure he stays unconscious Mr Hex."

The three of them left, leaving just Snape, the Werewolf and myself. The Werewolf was stationary staring at us as Snape and I stood shoulder to shoulder, I had my sword raised so I could scare it off if it charged, "any ideas on how to stop it without injuring Lupin?" I asked, the Werewolf charged, I raised my sword, ready to hit it with the flat again, but Snape was ready.

" **Repulso** ," the Werewolf was thrown backwards, muzzle over paws. "If that man had taken his medicine we would not be here," Snape said, anger showing through the cracks of his icy facade. The Werewolf stood and charged again, this time I reacted first, I pulled on the air, throwing the Werewolf away from us, it stood and shook its head before howling. "I believe we could try and scare it off into the woods, we are the only people here, by now Mr Potter and Sirius will hopefully have left the area." He was cut off as the Werewolf started moving again, this time he was circling us, "As you should remember from that essay I set," Snape said quickly, "Werewolves are merely big animals, so they are chronically scared of fire, like all sane animals, and they are monsters, so are also warded by ensorcelled metals, particularly silver. We should chase the monster away from other humans, so in that direction," he pointed into the distance.

"Okay then," I said handing him my sword, "I'll need two hands for this," I set the ground on fire around us, burning a circle of land around us, the Werewolf the only gap, the creature shrieked and ran off into the forest in a panic.

When the Werewolf had run beyond my eyesight I extinguished the flames, "he should be safe until morning," Snape said handing my sword back to me, "then he will make his way back to the castle. As we should be doing now."

"No, Harry and Black are still out there, and Black is probably injured, we have to help them," Snape nodded slowly, reluctantly.

"I suppose it would not be right to leave them out here," Snape sighed and looked up. "I think I've found them," I looked up as well, there was a cone of black figures flying over the forest, it was the Dementors, and they had found someone. I cursed and ran towards them.

I sprinted through the forest, barely dodging trees, stumps, branches and rabbit holes as I ran. I emerged on the shores of a lake. Harry and Sirius were in front of me, Sirius was lying on the ground, Harry was slumped on top of him, barely conscious. I stepped forward, the Dementors, sensing another presence turned to me, I readied my wand, " **expecto patronum** ," my patronus burst from the end of my wand. It was a phoenix. It chased the Dementors, scaring some away, protecting Harry and Sirius. My patronus was soon joined by a stag, I looked up, on the other side of the lake stood a shimmering figure that I could not make out. The two patronuses (patroni? What is the plural of patronus?) were joined by a doe as Snape arrived and cast his own patronus, together the three chased off the Dementors. When they were gone, the shimmering figure vanished. Not stopping to wonder about the figure I ran to Harry and Sirius' side, Harry passed into unconsciousness as I arrived, I checked Sirius' neck for a pulse, he was alive, but only weakly.

"They need medical attention," Snape said, I nodded as I pulled up Harry to his feet and leaned him on my shoulders. Thankfully, Harry was not well fed by his uncle and aunt so was very light so I did not struggle, Snape did the same with Sirius, except with a look of contempt on his face for the scruffy man.

We did not speak as we made our way back to the castle, Dumbledore, Filch and Alice were waiting for us when we got back. "Quickly, get them to the hospital wing," Dumbledore ordered, a look of worry in his blue eyes, Alice ran to my side and helped me with Harry, whilst Filch helped Snape with Sirius.

We put Harry and Sirius to bed in the hospital wing, where Ron was already asleep in a bed, Madame Pomfrey bustled about getting medicines and the such, glancing in fear at Black as she did so. She quickly shooed us out the hospital wing so we would not get in the way. Alice and I sat down on the bench outside the hospital wing, "so what happened? John, Hermione and Ron got back like an hour ago carrying someone they called Peter Pettigrew, but he is supposed to be dead and apparently he's an animagus now. I would ask the others, but Ron is in the infirmary, Hermione is doing something, I don't know what though and John is reporting to McGonagall."

"Where is Pettigrew?" I asked, the spell I had cast on him had worn off, or broken, or something.

"In chains designed for animagus, which were in one of the towers for some reason," Alice shrugged, "so what happened." I explained to her everything that had happened, from Black attacking Ron, to Lupin the Werewolf, to the Dementors, by the time I finished Alice was staring open mouthed. "So, Black lost twelve years of his life for nothing, wow, that has got to feel bad." She yawned, "I think we should go to bed, it's late and we can't do anything to help by staying awake any longer."

"I guess your right," I said reluctantly, we stood and walked towards the Common Room, we passed Hermione, who was walking in the opposite direction, her brow crinkled in worry. She was so nervous she did not acknowledge our greetings, moments later we passed Dumbledore, who was also heading towards the Hospital Wing, he smiled at us as we passed. When we got back to our room I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep without even changing out of my dirty clothes.


	52. Chapter 51

In the morning, well, it was closer to twelve, Alice had already left without me, I got up and quickly had a shower, changed into clean clothes and ran to the Hospital Wing. When I arrived I found Alice and Hermione sitting next to Ron as he lay in his bed. Harry was sitting next to Black, and John was sort of, hovering around (metaphorically, he could not, as far as I knew, hover), looking rather uncomfortable, like a sad spectre. "I hate hospitals," John said sadly when I asked him why we looked so sad, "they always remind me of when my Gran died, but I couldn't not visit whilst a friend was in one." He walked away, going to Ron's side, I went to Sirius' he was awake, but barely, the Dementors had taken their toll on him.

"Good to see you," Black said quietly, "I heard I have you to thank for saving my life, you and Severus," he sneered slightly at Severus' name, more from reflex than conscious thought. "I should bury the hatchet with him, I was a total arse." He sighed, "he came to visit me earlier, he apologised, Severus apologised, for not listening in the Shrieking Shack, I was dumbfounded." He said smiling weakly, "Severus actually apologising for something," his eyelids fluttered and he fell asleep again.

"Janet," Harry said happily, "thanks for helping save us."

"Don't just thank me, you should thank Snape, and that mysterious glowing man," Harry looked like he was going to say something when Hagrid burst into the room.

"I came as soon as I could," he said, he looked strangely happy, "you'll never believe wha' happened, Buckbeak escaped, last nigh', while we was inside, the mins'er, Dumbledore, that execuc'ioner an' I, Bucky escaped, he's alive" everyone cheered (except the unconscious Sirius).

* * *

Later that day, an Auror arrived to tell Black that in light of new evidence arising, his sentence had been revoked. Instead, he was to serve twelve years in Azkaban for being an unregistered animagus and for escaping Azkaban. However, seeing as he had already served twelve years in Azkaban, those twelve years would count instead of sending him back, in other words, he was free to go. Pettigrew however was to stand trial in September, just after the end of the school term, and we were to present ourselves as witnesses.

I went to tell Lupin the good news, when I arrived in his room, I found him leaning over a suitcase, trying to get his things to fit, without turning he spoke, "hello Janet."

"How did you...?" I asked.

"Saw you coming," he said sadly as he pointed at the map he had confiscated from Harry, "I helped make that map, James, Lily, Sirius, myself and… Peter, we were the Marauders. We drove everyone insane with our pranks, the greatest pranksters Hogwarts ever had, although, I hear the Weasley twins are making a play for the title. I know you're wondering where I'm going, I have to leave, someone followed me into the woods and saw me transform, they told everyone else, who told their parents, who are now calling for my head. I have to go, I heard rumour of a Werewolf sanctuary up in Snowdonia, I'm going to check it out, see if I can finally find somewhere to call home." He sighed and stared out the window whimsically, "nowhere in the world, no matter how accepting likes my kind. We're shunned, driven off, discriminated against, attacked, even murdered out of nothing but fear and superstition. But we can't do anything about it, I will see Harry and Sirius, then I will leave," the way he accepted it, how he was not even sad, like he had expected it to happen all along, it broke my heart.

"Please don't go," I said as I fought back tears, "I've never had a good Defence teacher before, especially one so caring."

Lupin smiled sadly, "that is probably the first time in twelve years that someone has been sad to see me go. I have to go though, we will see each other again, I'm sure of it. I have one thing to talk to you about before I go. What was your patronus? I never got a good look at it."

"Nor did I until last night, it was a phoenix," I said proud at my memory of my fully formed patronus.

Lupin's eyebrows both shot up, "the phoenix is a very rare patronus, I remember its meaning, it means you are bound for either greatness or tragedy. Either way, it marks you as a powerful witch, it also expresses undying loyalty and courage. It does have negative connotations as well, it marks you as resistant to change and even potentially dangerous, just like the phoenix. I would expect nothing less from a daughter of the patron of magic, I hope we are always on the same side Miss Harker. Now, if you excuse me, I have packing to do." I left Lupin alone in his study, as my mind whirled with what Lupin had told me about my patronus.

I meandered distractedly through the halls as I thought over the meaning of the patronus, I passed groups of students walking about quietly. The whole school had been quiet since the news about Black got out, and about Harry being attacked by the Dementors.

"Janet!" A voice shouted, I turned, John was at the end of the corridor behind me, I smiled at my friend, he walked down the corridor, "Ron wanted to talk to you, said it had to do with the Shrieking Shack, he's in the library, he looked really nervous, really scared," he leaned close and whispered, "you don't think he worked something out do you?"

It took me a moment to realise what John was talking about, but when I did I almost laughed in his face, "Ron solve a puzzle?" I whispered, "Ron may be a good chess player, but that's his only intellectual gift, he's as thick as two short planks, don't get me wrong, I like him as a friend, but he's not the brightest. If he does work it out I will treat him like I did Snape, Harry and Hermione, I doubt he'd tell anyway, he's too loyal for that. Sometimes I think he should be a Hufflepuff, but I think his courage outweighs his loyalty."

John relaxed slightly, "I hate keeping secrets, especially from our friends."

"Oh don't worry John, we all have our secrets, some secrets are merely more dangerous than others, we'll have to tell them one day, hopefully the law will be different by then and we will be considered beings rather than things." I set off for the library.

* * *

In the library I found Ron sitting in an overstuffed armchair, he had been discharged by Madame Pomfrey but was still hobbling around on crutches, which were now leaning against one arm of his chair. On his lap was a book that looked weirdly familiar, then I realised, it was the book from first year that Hermione and Harry had read. "Hi Ron, how are you feeling?" I asked, he looked up at me sadly.

"You lied to me," he said quietly, "for two years, you lied to all of us, I told Hermione, but she laughed and buggered off, I told Harry, he laughed, but it was nervous, he knew didn't he? I bet you told everyone except me."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, hoping to do Child of Apollo levels of acting to convince my friend nothing was going on.

"Don't give me that garbage Janet, I always thought you were strange, too powerful by half, the way you always boss people around, like it's a reflex. You always know how to fight every monster, you killed the Manticore, you scared off Lupin, you caught Peter. Two years I've known you, and I just went along, not questioning why you and Alice randomly start talking in Greek, why all your books are in Greek, the bracelet swords. Who brings swords to school? I thought it through, I know people think I'm stupid, but I sat down and thought, then I remembered a book in the library about near humans. So, I came here and read it, then things made sense, the Greek, the powerful magic, the dyslexia, the weird religion." I had to bite back a response to that, Ron paused, he looked up at me, betrayal in his eyes, "you're a Demigod."

I froze, I had never expected Ron to work it out, I had to think of a response, so I decided to tell the truth, "have you told anyone?" I asked quietly, Ron shook his head, I released a breath I had not realised I was holding, "good, yes, I'm a Demigod."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ron asked angrily.

"Because, I couldn't, I'm not allowed to, what do you remember about Demigods?"

"Let's see," Ron said as he stared off in to space, "never pick a fight with one, considered extremely dangerous by the Ministry. Oh," he looked back at me with a look of realisation on his face, the look of betrayal in his eyes replaced with a small measure of anger, "Demigod blood is used in black magic potions."

"Exactly," I said, "now, imagine if it got out that there were Demigods here in Hogwarts, every budding dark wizard would descend on the castle to try to get to us."

"Yeah," Ron said angrily, "but I'm no blabber mouth, I can keep a secret, especially after everything we've been through, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because Ron the less people who know the better, now that you know you have two options, because I have to keep my secret safe. Either you swear an unbreakable oath to never tell anyone," Ron paled, "or, I make you forget all about this."

"Well, er, I don't want holes in my memory, not after what happened to Lockhart, but Fred and George once tried to make me swear an unbreakable oath, but… I'll swear the oath," Ron said quietly, I held out my hand and Ron took it.

"Good, now repeat after me, I, Ronald Bilius Weasley, being of sound mind, and under no duress

do solemnly swear

I will never reveal any secrets about the gods and demigods revealed to me by Janet Harker,

unless allowed to by her expressed permission

I swear this on my magic, and on my life."

There was a small flash and the oath was sealed, Ron sat there in the chair for a while without saying anything, "so, who else knows?"

"Harry, Hermione, Lupin and Snape," Ron looked at me in surprise.

"You told Snape," he whispered harshly.

"He worked it out for himself, as did the others," I said nonchalantly.

"Why haven't you told Alice, I mean, you two are so close there are rumours going around…" he quickly shut his mouth.

"Alice is also a Demigod, as is John," I said quietly as I checked for minds near enough to hear what was going on. Ron opened his mouth, but I cut him off, "before you ask, my mother is Hecate the Goddess of magic and crossroads, Alice's is Iris the Goddess of rainbows and John's is Athena the Goddess of wisdom."

"Actually I was going to ask if you wanted to get some lunch, I think it's almost supper time," Ron smiled.

I smiled as well, "sure, let's go."


	53. Chapter 52

After that, term set into a usual pattern, it was almost dull, Snape and McGonagall filled in for poor Lupin who had left the day after he packed. Black and Pettigrew were taken away by the Ministry to prepare their trial. On the last day of term there was a commotion in the Great Hall when a package arrived for Harry, naturally, everyone else opened it before he got there, inside was a broom, I am not an expert on brooms, but Ron informed anyone who would listen that the broom was a Firebolt, currently the best on the market.

"Stand back, I said! I'll take it upstairs if you don't settle!" Ron shouted as everyone crowded around to have a look, just then Harry arrived, seeing him Hermione cleared her throat, the sea of pupils turned to face Harry.

"Harry!" Neville said happily, "wherever did you get it?"

"Can I have a go, Harry?" Seamus asked. "After you, of course -"

"Quiet!" Ron shouted startling everyone to silence, "Thank you, Let the man through."

Harry stepped forward, his eyes focused on the broom, the pupils peeled away, clearing his view of the Firebolt in Ron's hands. "Whose is that?"

Everyone laughed, "Whose is it? It's yours, mate."

"But... how?" Harry looked ready to faint. "Who?"

"It's a mystery. Though… this fell out of the wrapping," she held up a piece of paper with just the letter B on it.

"Let's go try it out," Harry said as he walked out the Great Hall, the rest of us trailing along, we left the school building and entered a courtyard surrounded by statues of giant knights.

"Go on, Harry," Ron said excitedly.

"Yeah, let's see." Neville said with stars in his eyes (figuratively). Harry mounted the broom, licked his finger and jabbed it in the air. A few others did the same, then everyone did, Crabbe and Goyle started to do the same, but Malfoy slapped their hands down. Hagrid lumbered into the courtyard, a smile on his face. Finally, Harry placed his hand on the broom, set his grip. He took a deep breath. And... Frowned.

"What's wrong?" The twins asked in sync.

"I don't think it works, I think it's defective," there was a collective groan, many of the pupils began to drift toward the castle.

"Well Potter," Malfoy said sneering at Harry, "looks like your popularity was short lived."

"Oh, come on now, it's just a broom," he winked at Hermione, Ron and me, "the fastest broom in the world," he took off to a collective cheer and a very dower Malfoy.

That evening Ravenclaw won the house cup, despite Gryffindor winning lots of extra points for catching Pettigrew, John's extra points put them five points ahead.

* * *

On the train ride to London Harry was swamped with new friends wanting to get to know him, and maybe ride his broom, so he had been swept away by a tide of humanity. Leaving just John, Luna, Alice, Hermione and myself in our carriage on the way home.

Luna and Hermione were arguing about Nargles, I was quiet content to listen, "Luna, if Nargles are invisible and cannot be felt, how can you know they exist!" Hermione snapped.

"You can feel where they've been, you can feel them fly into your ear and make your brain go all fuzzy," Luna said in her usual airy way.

"But that doesn't make any sense! If you cannot feel them, or touch them, how can they make your brain go fuzzy?"

"Because that is what Nargles do, they fly into your ear and make your brain go fuzzy."

"Can you show me a Nargle?" Hermione ask angrily.

"Can you show me an atom? Just because you cannot see something does not mean it does not exist, you cannot see a Threstral until you see death, but that does not make them any less real."

"That is not the same thing! Threstals are invisible as a defence mechanism, but Nargles are not real!"

"Of course they are, they are flying into your ears and making your brain go fuzzy," Luna said absently as she twirled a carrot earring.

"No, they are not! My mind is not fuzzy!"

Luna did something surprising, she leaned towards Hermione and snapped her fingers, "how many fingers am I holding up?" She was holding up four.

"Three," Hermione said incredulously, "that is a stupid question."

"Are you sure?" Luna asked.

"No, wait, it's four," Hermione rubbed her eyes, "how did you do that?"

"When I clicked my fingers I startled the Nargles, so they hid inside your head and made your brain go all fuzzy." Luna said as she turned back to the window.

"No, you cast an illusion spell," Hermione said.

"Hermione," I said, "I doubt Luna could cast a illusion spell that could fool a witch both wandlessly and wordlessly, no offence Luna."

"Hmm, none taken, I know my limits."

"Which side are you on?" Hermione asked, "I thought you were logical, now your believing in invisible and untouchable creatures."

"Hermione, I was being logical, I was pointing out your lack of logic," just then the door slid open to reveal Marc.

"Am I interrupting?" He asked seeing the atmosphere, with Hermione glaring at me.

"Not at all, what can we do for you?" I asked.

"I got sent a letter by Mum, apparently she heard about Black and Pettigrew's trial, and that you and your Dad is going to be there, so she contacted your Dad. Apparently, you will be staying with us for a while, as will your Dad, just until the trial is over and maybe a little while after, apparently Uncle Frederick wants to mend fences with your Dad."

"Well," I said taking it in, "that's good, Dad was so sad when he told me about his brother and sister."

Dad was waiting on the station with Chiron, he was awkwardly talking to Aunt Alicia, they appeared to be getting along a little better. Alicia was not shouting at him, which was a start. When Chiron saw us he signalled us over, we bade our farewells and walked over to him, "Janet, there's an Auror looking for you and John, what did you do?"

"We caught a criminal, Peter Pettigrew," I said, "he was the one who sold Harry's parents too you-know-who, I'd guess it is about his trial, where is the Auror?"

"Somewhere over there," Chiron said pointing into the crowd of people, "he's hard to miss, he's tall, broad shouldered, wearing a hood over his face. Oh there he is." He pointed at a figure who was a head taller than everyone else in the room, not as tall as Hagrid, but still quite tall, the figure was dressed in blue robes with the hood pulled up.

The Auror made his way over to us, "Janet Harker?" He asked, his voice suited him, it was deep and rumbling, I nodded, trying not to look intimidated by his height, "I have been told to ensure that you and Jonathan Hex remain in London for the trial of Peter Pettigrew."

"Well, I was planning on staying anyway, I want to see him brought to justice," the looming figure stared at me.

"Good, where can I find Mr Hex?" He rumbled.

"He'll turn up eventually Mister?"

"Demort, Abe Demort."

Eventually John turned up, "hi guys, I heard you were looking for me," he looked up at Abe, "who's this guy?"

"Mr Hex, I am Abe Demort, I am here to make sure that you and Miss Harker remain in the country for the trial of Peter Pettigrew so that you may testify against him."

"I was planning to stay, but I have nowhere to stay," John said.

"The Ministry will provide accommodation," Abe said, "Miss Harker do you have accommodation?"

"She is staying with us," Aunt Alicia said.

"Very well, come along Mr Hex, we will find you some accommodation," he started walking off, John gave us a panicked look before scampering after him.

"We should go as well," Aunt Alicia said, "Alexander is waiting for us back home."

I will not bore you with the proceedings of a wizarding court or a family reunion, and everything else that happened in London was not relevant. All you need to know is that Peter was found guilty of perverting the course of justice, contempt for the court, being an unregistered animagus, practising Dark magic, betraying the trust befitting a secret keeper and aiding the enemy, he was sentenced to one hundred and twenty years in Azkaban.


	54. Chapter 53

When Dad and I returned to America we went home because I wanted to pick up some things before I returned to Camp.

Dad opened the door to find,as usual, Cobblepot waiting in the hall, "good morning Masters. Mister Moody arrived yesterday, I informed him that you were at court in the UK, he was aware, but insisted on staying anyway, he is currently in the library."

"Thank you Cobblepot, can you get make me a cup of Earl Grey please?" Dad asked, "do you want anything Janet?"

"No thanks," I said, excited to see Uncle Alistair again.

"Of course Sir," he walked off in the direction of the kitchen.

"Well, it's unlike Alistair to be late on his annual visit isn't it?" Dad said smiling as he walked to the library.

We found Uncle Alistair sitting in one of the old armchairs scattered around the library, he was reading a book about British wizarding history and sipping a brandy, "little early for drinking isn't it Alistair?" Dad asked when we got near.

"Good morning to you too Thom, and no it isn't, it's nine somewhere in the world, he pushed himself to his feet, his wooden leg unstable beneath him, he held himself up on his usual walking cane. Uncle Alistair is a tall man who bears the scars of a long career as an Auror. His right leg was blown off in the first wizarding war, his left eye was gouged out shortly thereafter, his face is covered in a criss cross lattice of scars, one of which has taken a chunk out of his nose. His collar length hair was dark grey and his natural eye was dark brown whilst the magic fake one is electric blue. He was dressed in his usual brown leather coat with three buckles on the front, a grey shirt and brown trousers. "Janet!" He exclaimed seeing me, he put down his brandy and hobbled over, "you've grown since I last saw you!" He said smiling.

"Good to see you too Uncle Alistair," I said happily.

"C'mere," he gave me hug. "I so rarely get to see you, it's a shame really, there's still so much I could teach you. Well, I suppose I will be next year," he barked a laugh, but I just frowned in confusion. "Oh right, you probably don't know, Ol' Dumbledore convinced me to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher next year, so I'm going to be there to keep an eye on you."

"That's great Uncle Alistair," I said grinning at him.

"Yeah, I heard Lupin got chased out the job when people found out his more wolfish side," he sighed sadly, "shame really, that one is a great duellist, he could really have taught people some things."

"I'm sure," I said, "but, now you're going to be there."

"True, I'm going to whip those kids into duellists even if it kills me, but I hope it doesn't, I rather like being alive, I'm not ready to pay the ferryman quite yet."

"So, why did you accept the job?" Dad asked, "I thought you were retired."

"Oh, I am, but Dumbledore told me if I didn't take the job he'd give it to Snape, and I was not having my Goddaughter being taught by a former Death Eater. Besides, retirement was getting boring, I've heard rumblings that something big is coming in the UK, I think old moldy is coming back."

"We thought so as well," Dad said, "well, Alexander thinks it's just the Great Stirring with the return of Kronos."

"Here you are Sir," Cobblepot said as he enter the library carrying a tray with a cup of tea on it, "one cup of Earl Grey exactly how you like it."

"Thanks Cobblepot," Dad said as he picked up the cup by the saucer.

"Can I get anything for anyone else?" Cobblepot asked, everyone shook their heads.

"That will be all, thank you Cobblepot," Dad said.

"Very well Sir," Cobblepot said before bowing and leaving the room.

After the door closed behind him an Iris message opened in front of me, on the other side was Chiron, "Janet, Camp is soon going to be under attack, we found an entrance to the Labyrinth in Zeus' Fist. We believe Luke is marching an army through the labyrinth as we speak. Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson have just entered the labyrinth to find out how to close the entrance, but we need to prepare Camp for battle."

"I'll be there soon Chiron," I said, I waved my hand through the message, cutting the connection. "I have to go," I said, turning back to Dad and Uncle Alistair.

"Well," Uncle Alistair said, "sounds like fun, wish I could join you, but these are not wizarding affairs, I will see you next year Janet. I reckon by the time this battle is over I'll be back home planning lessons and stuff. Oh, I got you gift, seeing as I missed you at Christmas," he reached into his coat and handed her a battered box wrapped in ribbon, "there was paper as well, but it's no longer the festive season."

"Thanks Uncle Alistair," I carefully removed the ribbon and opened the box, inside was a golden knife that shimmered unnaturally, "wow, it's beautiful, thanks Uncle," I picked it up, careful not to cut myself.

"I'm afraid it won't hurt your Greek monsters, it's Dwarf made, I met the smith who made it, he called it Foeslicer, it will cut through almost anything like butter. Obviously, except the magical metals, you know, Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold, Stygian Iron, Dwarf metal and Goblin Silver. I doubt it would cut through top of the line armoured or enchanted clothing either, that stuff is damn tough, but most magicians don't wear that stuff, too expensive you know."

"Thank you very much Uncle, I'll pick it up before I go to school, it won't be much use at Camp" I said putting Foeslicer on the table, giving the old Auror a hug, "see you at school."

"Good luck dear," Dad said giving me a hug.

"Remember, constant vigilance!" Uncle Alistair shouted after me.

I left the library and walked out into the front garden, Dad had the previous year built a shed that was full of portkeys, it led him to any one of dozens different locations in every corner of America, just in case we had to go somewhere. I found the portkey that would take me to Camp and touched it, I was instantly pulled through the air and flung all the way to Camp.


	55. Chapter 54

I landed just outside the boundaries, Thalia's tree was to my left, as was the dragon guarding the golden treasure in its branches. The dragon was still not fully grown, but its guarding instincts had kicked in, so there were no longer any guards at the base of the tree, but the twenty foot dragon was enough to scare off any thieves. Camp was silent when I passed its boundaries, there were no campers climbing the wall, there were no sword lessons in the arena, the lake was empty, the strawberries were untended. I wandered through Camp, marvelling at how empty it was, I walked into the forest in the direction of Zeus' Fist.

I found everyone erecting fortifications by Zeus' Fist, there were wooden palisades and catapults being built, all aimed at the stone pile, Chiron galloped over when he saw me. "Good, you're here, Drake and Lou Ellen are by the Fist itself, setting traps and triggered spells. Mr D has been summoned away by Olympus, Beckendorf is overseeing the catapults whilst Michael Yew is in charge of the fortifications themselves."

I joined my siblings by what I was told was the entrance of the Labyrinth, it looked like a small impression in the rock with a delta carved into it, "what took you?" Drake growled as he carefully carved a spell into the surface of the rock with a dagger.

"Good to see you too, I came as soon as Chiron told me what was going on," I said, Drake grunted in response, not looking up from his carving.

"Don't worry about Drake," Lou said quietly, "he's in a bad mood because he screwed up one of the spells last night and almost blew us sky high, now we have to correct his mistake. Anyway, the plan is to set up a fire net to contain the monsters, then we set off an explosion that will be contained within a barrier spell. I'm working on the net, Drake is carving out the rune for the explosion, can you start carving the barrier about sixty feet back, there are some rune poles over there to set the runes, they just planting and carving."

We set to work, by the evening Lou and Drake had almost finished their spells and I was about halfway through mine. We were so close when Drake cursed, the rune he was working on backfired and sent him sprawling, "I'm okay," he said as he sat up painfully.

"Medic!" I shouted, Will Solace ran over and started examining him.

"Dammit, again, that's the same damn rune as last time," he said, he then coughed and gasped in pain.

"Carefully," Will said, "you're injured."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Drake said sarcastically.

"You're lucky," Will said ignoring Drake's sarcasm, "it's just bruising, but I would recommend against any vigorous exercise in the next few days, just in case."

"What, you mean like a battle?" I sighed at my half-brother's attitude.

"Drake, that's enough," I said, "I know it's frustrating when a spell goes wrong, but that is no reason to take your anger out on Will."

"Bah, I will get that spell," Lou then joined us.

"Well, the bad news is that your entire spell is fried, the good news is that mine is fine, as is Janet's, so that's something," she said trying to sound upbeat.

"At this rate we won't be ready for the battle," Drake said angrily.

"Hey, we'll get it done," I said, "Lou's spell is almost finished, she can help you finish yours. What happened by the way?"

"Some damn bug bit me, I jerked in surprise and cut through one of the rune lines, it went boom," Drake said, "tomorrow we're setting up bug repelling spells." The conch horn blew in the distance, he got up and hobbled angrily out the clearing.

"There aren't any biting insects in Camp, the borders keep them out," Lou said, worry in her voice, "Drake isn't telling us something."

"Maybe, but it might have just been something else, a stray chip of rock, a careless bird dropping something, his own mind, I doubt he is lying to us."

"I'm keeping an eye on him," Lou said as she left the clearing. I looked back at the char lines on the Fist, then down at where Drake landed, there was a runestone. Like the one I had used to distract Zoë in the winter, I pressed the rune, an invisible bubble slid over my skin, I pressed it again and the bubble vanished. 'Why did Drake have this?' I wondered as I walked off to get food.

Dinner was not a happy affair, everyone was talking, joking and laughing, but there was a condemned feel to it, a tense atmosphere of fear and frustration. Drake grabbed some food and left the pavilion, pleading tiredness from carving all day. "Something is going on with him," Alice said as she sat down next to me, "he did that yesterday, but when we went back to the Cabin he was not there, he turned up an hour later and refused to tell anyone where he had been."

"Hmm, I'm starting to think something is off," I said as I started eating my food, "he dropped this in the clearing when he was thrown by that explosion," I put the runestone on the table, "he made it, it creates a bubble around the user to protect them from falls and explosions."

"I remember him carving that stone," Lou said, "he was carving it yesterday while we were talking about which spells to cut into the fist. I thought it was a little odd, he said it was in case anything went wrong."

"Then why was he injured by the explosion and fall?" I asked, "he had enough time to react, and the bubble would have protected him."

Lou's eyes widened, "why would he fake an injury? I think he was simply so startled by getting the spell wrong again he forgot about it and you found it after it fell out his pocket."

"I suppose you're right," I conceded, "I'm just getting paranoid, been spending too much time with Uncle Alistair."

"I have no idea who Uncle Alistair is," Lou said, "but you have to trust Drake, I think something is going on with him, but it is probably a personal matter, not related to all this." She motioned vaguely at everything around us, "let's change the subject to something cheerier. How has your year been?"

After supper we decided to go back to the cabin because the three of us were not in the mood for a sing-along, we entered the cabin. Drake was not there, the three of us got ready for bed and were about ready to go to sleep when Drake walked in. He was wearing a black coat and heavy boots coated in mud, he was holding a dagger in his right hand, seeing him in the doorway made me notice how tired he looked. There were deep black bags under his eyes, his face was pale, despite the amount of time he had spent outside over the past few days. Everything about him lacked energy, his shoulders were curved, his back slumped, his arms hung loosely at his sides, his face was gaunt, like every bit of fat had been burnt from his face, his cheeks were dark caves beneath his cheekbones. "Drake, are you okay?" I asked, he did not reply, instead, he picked up some clothes and went somewhere private to get changed. Plagued by worry for my brother I eventually fell asleep.

* * *

I dreamt I was in a library, it was a large library, the bookshelves stretched as high as I could see and as far, stretching to all horizons, all lined with books, Mum was standing on a step ladder, she took took down a book and turned to me, "ah, you're here, let's go somewhere more comfortable."

The dream shifted, we were now in a small room with no doors, there were two armchairs and a table, "take a seat Janet," she said as she sat in one chair, so I also took a seat, "I would offer you a drink, but you are not here. Anyway, I brought you here to tell you that the majority of your siblings have joined Kronos, all the children that Camp failed to find, in fact the only ones who have refused are at camps."

"Camps?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

Mum blushed, "slip of the tongue, I meant Camp. Anyway, this does not mean I will be joining Kronos, I'm rather fond of how my little Avalonians have turned out, as well as my other wizards, sorcerers, enchanters, magicians and the rest. They provide a huge amount of entertainment and I'm not yet ready to let them die, so I decided to warn you, Kronos' strength grows he is going to be whispering into the ears of you and your friends. I'm afraid that even you and your siblings are unable to block his words, however, you will be able to push him out his head as long as he is in a different room to you. If you can see him and him you, his whispers will be shouts, they will stay even if you try to push him out."

"Mum, do you know what is going on with Drake?" I asked.

"I do," she said as the dream faded, her face looked pained.


	56. Chapter 55

I woke up to Alice shaking me, "Janet, come on, food."

We set to work again on the runes, Drake did not look as bad as the night before, he stood straight and his face was full again, 'it was a trick of the light, or a dream,' I thought to myself as I returned Drake's runestone to him.

About midday Chiron came trotting over, "have you seen Quintus? He was supposed to be teaching sword fighting to the new campers in Hermes, but he's not been seen since last night."

"Who's Quintus?" I asked.

"The sword fighting instructor Chiron brought in," Drake said angrily, angry about what, I did not know, "he owns that giant Hellhound in the arena, called it Mrs O'Leary."

I was surprised I had managed to miss a giant Hellhound this long, "I'm here Chiron," a voice said. I turned, the source of the voice was a grey haired, bearded man in armour, he had a sword at his hip, he had stormy grey eyes, those eyes marked him as a son of Athena. "I don't believe we've met, Quintus, son of Athena," he held out his hand.

"Janet, daughter of Hecate," I shook his hand, he had a firm grip, but he had no swordsman callouses, something was strange.

"I was just taking Mrs O'Leary for a walk and got turned around in the woods," just then there was a bark that sounded like an exploding charm and a Hellhound the size of a bus bound into the clearing. She dropped a badly chewed rubber ball at his feet and lowered her head next to him, "good girl," he started scratching behind her ear, "I'll be off now, kids to teach and all that." He walked out the clearing just as the side of the Fist opened up and Annabeth walked out, her eyes red from crying. We rushed to her side.

"We got separated, Grover thought he smelt Pan and went after the smell, Tyson following, then Percy and I went on through the labyrinth, we ended up in a volcano. There were dozens of Telekhines, Percy and I got separated, we tried to get back to the labyrinth, then there was explosion, I expected Percy to come out, but he didn't I waited all day, but he didn't come back. Hephaestus gave me a guide to get me home." She collapsed again crying.

"Annabeth, what happened, in full?" Chiron asked kindly when we finally managed to calm her down.

"We went through the labyrinth, first we met Janus, he tried to make me choose, but Hera scared him away, she told us to find Hephaestus. We carried on and ended up on Alcatraz, where we freed Briares the Hundred Handed from Kampê. Then we ended up on Geryon's farm where we found Nico, Percy had to clean the stables, and then kill Geryon, then we lost Nico. Geryon's farmhand, a Demigod called Eurytion, had a robot spider that guided us to Hephaestus, on the way we fought the Sphinx. Hephaestus said he'd help if we cleared out his old forge on Mount Saint Helen's from monsters, in exchange he'd provide a way to find Daedalus' workshop, we followed his spider to the volcano. but on the way there Grover smelt Pan, so he went with Tyson to investigate. Percy and I carried on to the forge, we looked around, ran into the Telekhines, something happened after we got separated, there was an explosion and Percy was gone. I returned to Hephaestus and he sent me here," Annabeth started crying again.

I collapsed to my knees and started crying as well. Percy had been a beacon to us at Camp. He was looked to for leadership. Percy always could improvise a plan so stupid that it worked. He was always so determined and driven to win that he could inspire discipline and loyalty in those around him. Annabeth was looked to for strategic leadership. But in battle, people rallied around Percy. They were drawn to him, like iron to a magnet. "He may still be alive," Chiron said, breaking through my sadness. His voice was hollow, he did not truly believe what he was saying. Despite his doubt, I wiped my eyes, as long as there was hope I would hope, just for a little bit longer, "we will give him two weeks, after that, we will declare him dead and burn his shroud."

The next two weeks dragged, not much happened, Percy's disappearance weighed heavily on everyone, we finally finished the spell around Zeus' Fist. There were no more explosions, or broken runes, we then set about setting up some minor traps, slabs that would set the first person to step on them on fire, an illusion over a pit filled with spikes and so on. We set up every nasty trap we could think of to make them pay for every demigod that had died, or was going to die in the upcoming battle. But all the while melancholy and anger shrouded our work, I cut the runes with a leaden hand and tearful eye.

Drake seemed particularly hurt by Percy's disappearance, everyday he retreated into himself more and more, he became sullen and angry, lashing out at those around him, he began skipping meals. He looked like the Drake who I had seen that night Mum visited my dreams as the fat was stripped from his bones. He was losing weight far faster than missing a few meals could account for, but he was using magic, and magic did use a lot of energy if you went about it wrong. 'Note to self, keep an eye on Drake's casting,' I thought to myself as a saw how painfully thin he looked, his normally weak cheekbones protruded from his face like small blades pressed up against his skin from the inside. Despite this, whenever we spoke to him about it he insisted he was fine and nothing we could do could change that.

Annabeth was worse, she was barely seen for the entire two weeks, she was accompanied by one of her siblings wherever she went to make sure she did not hurt herself. When she was seen, she was a shadow of her former self, her normally neat blonde ponytail was messily done up, with random hairs pointing in every direction. She was clearly not sleeping as the dark smudges under her eyes testified, the stormy grey eyes that few could ever meet were placid and calm, no, not calm, they were like glass, shattered glass.


	57. Chapter 56

After the two weeks Chiron declared Percy dead, so a casket was placed in the amphitheatre draped in a blue shroud embroidered with a green trident. Demigods, Satyrs and Nature Spirits lined up to pay their respects, we started early in the morning and it was not until nearly midday when Annabeth could give her speech. She had tidied herself up and some of her old determination was back in her eyes. "As you all know, it has been two weeks since anyone has heard from Percy, considering the circumstances of his disappearance, we can only assume he is dead," Chiron said mournfully. "As, after so long a silence, it is unlikely our prayers will be answered, I have asked his best surviving friend to do the final honours."

Annabeth took a torch that had been offered to her and set it to the shroud, the cloth instantly caught and set the rest of the pyre on fire "He was probably the bravest friend I've ever had." Annabeth said as she turned back to us, "He…" She paused, her mouth slightly open, then she did something unexpected, her face went blood red. "He's right there!" She pointed behind us, we all turned, sure enough, there was Percy, standing behind us. Percy was lost in a sea of people as all the campers tried to talk to him and hug him at once, eventually, worrying for his safety, Lou Ellen and I parted the crowd and let Percy out. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" Annabeth shouted so loudly that Harry must have heard her back in Britain, I got ready to hold her back if she tried to hit him, instead she hugged him so tightly Percy turned red and I think I heard some ribs groan. Upon remembering where she was Annabeth pushed Percy away and blushed, "I… we thought you were dead Seaweed Brains."

"I'm sorry, I got lost," Percy said pathetically.

"LOST!" Annabeth shrieked, "Two weeks, Percy? Where in the world—"

"Annabeth," Chiron interrupted, "Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private, shall we? The rest of you, back to your normal activities and preparations!" Without waiting for them to protest, he picked up Annabeth and Percy as easily as if they were kittens, slung them both on his back, and galloped off towards the Big House.

"Those two need couples counselling!" John exclaimed (when his sister was safely out of earshot), a ripple of laughter ran through the slowly dispersing crowd of Demigods. He turned to Lou Ellen and I, "hey, what's up with your brother, I meant to bring it up earlier, but I haven't really seen you, he looks like a sun dried skeleton, he's been skipping training. I think he needs to see a doctor, I think Michael isn't busy."

"Well," Lou started, "I think he's trying to cast a spell that's too powerful for him and its eating him away, but that raises the question of why we can't sense it. A spell powerful enough to do that to a child of Hecate would have some serious power behind it."

"I'll take your word on that," John said, "also, something has been killing Dryads in the forest and harvesting their blood, it got three last week, the Cloven Elders are investigating. But an investigation by them and their servants is about as effective as sending a chicken to track a wolf, they won't find it, and if they do it will probably kill them."

"Why would someone want Dryad blood?" I asked, "I don't know of any magical properties that would help anyone's plans, or potions even, some minor healing, I think it cures a blocked vein, but there are better ways of doing it, it's a useless ingredient." I remembered Mum's book, it was on the nearest bookshelf, "I'm just going to check something." I hurried back to the Hermes cabin, sure enough, on the shelf next to my bed was a deceptively small leather-bound book, I picked it up and opened it.

 _Dryad Blood,_

 _Self explanatory, the blood of the Dryad tree nymphs,_

 _Collected from dead Dryads within one hour of death, caution is advised as Dryads will turn into trees when threatened and any nearby Demigods or Satyrs will find the death of a Dryad deeply offensive and will usually attack anyone who threatens a Dryad._

 _Uses,_

 _Healing minor wounds (potion)_

 _Unblocking veins (potion)_

 _Increasing energy (potion)_

 _Fortify Breathing (potion)_

 _Filtering air (extract)_

 _Several dark magic ceremonies use Dryad Blood to summon minor demons and strike foes at a distance._

 _Conclusion, Dryad Blood is versatile, but is unstable and when it is stabilised there are ingredients that are better at the job, except for the dark magic ceremonies, for which Dryad Blood is the only uncommon ingredient that is capable of performing the task._

The entry ended there with no reference made to what the dark magic ceremonies were, so I turned the page. It showed a blank page, meaning, either I had already looked at the entry this month, or the information had not been recorded in written form, which seemed unlikely, but I had never tried to find any dark magic ceremonies before, so it must have never been recorded.

* * *

I returned to Zeus' Fist where everyone was setting up the fortifications with renewed vigour, Lou Ellen was carving runes, but Drake was nowhere to be seen. "Lou," I called when she finished a rune, "where's Drake?"

"Dunno, no-one's seen him all day, he wasn't at Percy's funeral," there was a rustling in the trees and Drake stepped out.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, his voice hoarse, like he had been shouting, "I was trying to investigate the Dryad murders and got caught in a snare left by the Huntresses last winter."

"Well, it's good you're here now, we need to think of more traps," Lou said, "I think we should have triggered spears stick out from the wall."

"Hmm, what about if we enchant the stones for the catapults to explode upon impact," Drake said, "spears are more of a Hephaestus thing."

"Sounds good, how big should they explode?" Lou and Drake carried on planning out their explosions, I decided to go into the forest to investigate the Dryad murders.

I stepped out of the clearing and into the trees, a Dryad was standing in the forest, "hello," I said, the Dryad startled and turned into a maple tree. "Please, I'm not going to hurt you, I need you to show me where the murders happened, I want to find the killer," the Dryad turned into her human form, she was a pretty girl, she appeared to be the same age as me, with leaf green eyes and short brown hair, there was a slight green blush on her cheeks.

"You swear you won't hurt me?" She asked sheepishly, in a Canadian accent.

"I swear it upon the River Styx," I said, she visibly relaxed.

"Thank you, I'm Maple, please follow me," she walked off through the forest, I followed after her, we walked deep into the forest. "We don't know what the murderer looks like," Maple said after a few minutes of silence. "We've seen him of course, you cannot enter the forest without being seen, but he always wears a heavy black hooded coat. He scares us, when we see him we turn into trees, but he has some nasty magic, he forces us to turn back into our vulnerable form. It scares me," she whispered, "we're here," we entered into a clearing, lying in the centre of the clearing were four dead Dryads. Maple cried out, "there were only three earlier, he got another one," she started crying and collapsed to her knees, burying her face in her hands. I walked over to the Dryad corpses, there was no sign of a struggle, their throats and wrists had been slit by a magic knife of some kind, "a Demigod did this," I said in horror, "how could they?" I looked around the clearing, on one of the branches of a nearby tree was a piece of black fabric, I took the fabric and pocketed it.

"A Demigod?" Maple said as she recovered from her crying, "it would have to have been a powerful one to perform that spell. We have legends about the spell that forces us to turn, apparently it has driven wizards mad or killed them it is so powerful."

I sighed, " this is disturbing, I'll have to investigate this."


	58. Chapter 57

"No, you won't," a raspy voice came from behind me, I turned to see Drake with a dagger to Maple's throat, "you will…"

I did not let him finish, I pulled on the air and yanked the dagger from his hand into mine, "you were saying? Let her go Drake."

"No my little sister, I won't, you know getting to kill you is a great relief, I can stop pretending to like you. I loathe you, you got everything I didn't, you are pretty, clever and powerful, everyone adores you, most of the guys and some of the girls have crushes on you. Meanwhile, I'm not even average, I'm unattractive. Compared to you, I was a weakling, I was stupid. I'm tolerated by people because they see me as a way to you, I hate it, but Luke and Kronos, they know me for who I am, they like me, they give me a purpose. I poisoned Thalia's tree, I told Luke that the labyrinth had been discovered, I told him about the quest to save Artemis, I murdered the Dryads, I summoned Tala, I am the traitor. Am I truly a traitor if I betray some uncaring Gods who the world will be better off without?"

"So, you betrayed everyone and tried to doom the world because you were jealous of me? I'm unsure of how flattered I should be by that, I'm of course totally disgusted as well, but I'm at least slightly flattered."

"Joke about it while you can sister dearest," he said smiling psychotically "because you will not leave this clearing alive."

"Oh, I think I will, you said it yourself, I am far more powerful than you, I will drag you before the Gods themselves."

"You were more powerful, but thanks to that little book Mum gave you I have increased my own strength using the blood of Dryads, and Lord Kronos has granted me even more strength so I can kill you."

"You know, I think you may have gone insane," I said.

"No, I'm more sane now than ever before, I see the world how it truly is, the Gods as monsters and the Titans as the future," he tapped his foot on something in the leaf litter. There was a rush of air and a hexagonal crimson barrier rose up around him, he pushed Maple away, "give me your best shot." I created a spear out of fire and air and threw it at him, the spear hit his barrier and vanished, Drake stumbled, "impressive sister dearest, I may have underestimated you. Oh, wait, no I didn't." He raised his hand, I felt the ground shudder under my feet, I used the air and threw myself to the side as a spike of rock shot out the ground. I responded by pulling a large boulder behind him into the back of his barrier, the rock exploded on contact, knocking Drake from his feet. He got up and snarled at me, he pushed both hands forward, I shielded myself just in time for a wave of force to hit against my barrier. I pulled a runestone from my pocket and activated it, I threw it at him, the rune triggered as it hit his shield and exploded, the force was enough to knock us both off our feet, but when the smoke cleared his barrier was still standing.

I drew my wand, " **conjuro fulguris maxima** ," lightning shot from the end of my wand, it crackled as it hit his barrier, arcing all over the clearing. When I let the spell end I was panting hard, Drake was still standing, as was his barrier.

"Are you quite finished sister dearest? Because it's my turn," he clapped his hands together once, an explosion triggered in the clearing, ripping up trees, rocks, bushes and sending everything flying, except Drake in his barrier. I hit a tree and slid to the floor, once my vision cleared and the ringing in my ears stopped I looked around, Drake was not in the barrier anymore. I pulled myself to my feet, leaning heavily on the tree behind me, I was sure I had cracked some ribs and at least sprained one leg. I felt something cold touch my throat, I naturally drew back from the sensation, "I win," Drake whispered in my ear, he had a knife to my throat.

"No you don't," I said as I carefully cast a spell, I used the air to grab his wrist and squeezed, he was forced to drop the knife. I spun around, ignoring the pain in my side and punched him on the nose before kicking him as hard as I could between his legs, Drake doubled over in pain. I picked up the knife and put it to the back of his neck, "I win." Drake started laughing, "what's so funny?"

"I know you won't kill me, you fancy yourself the hero of your own little world, we are just background characters, well, except maybe Alice, after all, the hero needs a love interest."

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I shift uncomfortably.

"You think yourself the hero, and a hero needs a villain. After all, without a villain, who needs a hero? Your ego won't let you kill me, you need someone to oppose your heroics. You have a hero complex."

"Drake, you're wrong, but I'm not willingly going to kill you, not because of a hero complex, but because to be a hero means that justice must be served, so I will take you back to Camp for a trial."

"Then what? You know the only way everyone will be safe from me is if I'm dead, but Chiron will never sentence me to death, it's not in his nature."

"We shall see."

Drake started laughing again, "no, we won't," he seemed to shrink and fold in upon himself simultaneously until he was just a point of black light, which then hurtled straight up and disappeared into the sky.

"Maple!" I shouted as I remember the Dryad, I hobbled over to where Drake had been standing, a perfect hexagon of untouched leaves surrounded by devastation.

"Sorry, I'm here," Maple said quietly as she slunk out of the forest, "he scared me so much, I hid, I'm sorry, I'm not a fighter."

"It's fine, Drake's a wizard, and a very powerful one at that, I'm just happy you're safe, let's go back to Camp, I must report this." We went back through the forest, I leaned on Maple most of the way, Dryads are surprisingly strong it turns out, probably something to do with them also being trees. Each step was agony, it sent a jolt through by ribs and injured leg, but eventually, after a lot of pain, I made it back to Zeus' Fist, where I could finally collapse as people surrounded me and stretcher bearers took me to the infirmary.


	59. Chapter 58

"You broke two ribs, cracked three more, sprained your right leg, broke two bones in your right foot, have blunt trauma on the back of your head and have minor internal bleeding," Hannah, a daughter of Apollo who had never heard of bedside manner reported when she finished looking me over.

"Is that all?" I asked as Hannah started bandaging my chest.

"All I could see," she said, "but, please, don't talk, I must focus."

When Hannah was happy with my bandages, she looked down at me, "you heal quickly, between that and nectar and ambrosia. You will be ready for battle within a week, you have visitors," she spun on her heel and walked out the room.

My first visitor was Chiron, who arrived in his wheelchair, he looked very worried, maybe a little nervous, "what happened?" He asked grimly.

"Drake, he was the traitor," Chiron did not look surprised, but he did look sad, "he had been murdering Dryads to perform some ritual to make himself stronger so he could kill me, not just kill me. He wanted to prove himself stronger and clever, he was jealous of me, he kept comparing himself to me."

"Hmm, I knew about Drake's jealousy, most people did, but I did not think he would go this far, I should have stopped it, I thought it might spark his competitive spirit to drive him to better himself. I'm sorry Janet, I failed your brother," he looked suddenly very old, "I fail too many," with that cheerful note, he turned and left.

My next visitor was John, "I've good news, bad news and awful news John," I said smiling at him, "good news, I found our Dryad murderer and drove him off, the bad news, it was Drake," John did not look surprised either. "The terrible news, he was murdering them to make himself stronger so he could beat me," now John looked surprised.

"I knew he was jealous, everyone did, I suspected he was up to something, but I couldn't prove it, but, Gods, I never thought he would go this far," John sighed sadly, "you beat him, that's the main thing."

I shook my head, "I tricked him, he won't fall for it again. John, I'm scared I'm going to have to kill him."

"Don't think like that," John said as he gently put his hand on my shoulder, "he's made his choice, anything after that is his own fault. Anyway, you know how no-one could find Quintus for the past three days?"

"Yeah?" I asked, hoping for good news.

"He went into the Labyrinth, one of the Dryads saw him go in, Percy thinks he's a traitor, I'm not too sure, but there's something off about him, he doesn't seem quite right. Percy and Annabeth are leaving in the morning, Percy has a plan of some kind, top secret, he's only told Annabeth and Chiron and both are shut up tighter than a clam."

"I hope it works, I doubt Camp could survive a direct attack, we've lost too many heroes and Kronos has too many monsters."

"This could be our Thermopylae," John said sadly.

"Not likely, Thermopylae was a delaying tactic for a later victory, we have no later victory," I said sadly, "this could be our last stand yes, but not Thermopylae. Because if we lose here, there will be no second battle, we don't have another army to help us, it's all or nothing."

"Cheerful thought isn't it?" I glared at him, he held his hands up in mock surrender, "easy, I was just joking, we've tried contact various allies and possible people who might help. The Aurors think we've gone insane at the idea of a living, growing maze under the entire world run by a two thousand year old inventor. Poseidon cannot send help, he's busy, Zeus is dealing with a minor rebellion by some wind spirit, Hades hates our guts after what Percy did two years ago, Circe also hates us after last year. Artemis and her Hunters are over in Washington State, the Amazons are having some weird religious experience with a new leader defeating the old one in single combat and they are now having a massive festival to celebrate and there are no other armies that might help. A bunch of our allies have joined Kronos, and everyone else hates us, so, it's going well."

"So, we have to rest our hopes on Percy's plan," I blinked in surprise, "oh Gods, I realised what I just said."

"Relax, he has Annabeth with him, and Chiron approved, but I would like to know what the plan is," John sighed, "I should probably go, Alice is next and I'm sure you two want some alone time, I'll go back to helping plan defences. By that, I mean my older siblings will plan the defences and I'll probably get the job of corralling the young campers and directing the Aphrodite cabin to do something useful rather than combing people's hair and colour coordinating armour. Wish me luck, because I'll need it."

I smiled, "good luck," John smiled back before walking out the room, I heard him say a couple of words before Alice burst into the room talking extremely quickly.

"Oh Janet, I was so worried, please, never do that again," she grabbed me in a rib creaking hug.

"Alice, ribs," I gasped.

Alice released me, blushing sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy to see that you're safe now, when you collapsed by the Fist everyone got so worried. I thought I might have lost you, then I had these horrible visions that you had died, so I did the only logical thing and had a panic attack. I heard from Chiron by the way, I'm surprised Drake is a traitor, he was always such a nice guy, I suppose Luke was a nice guy as well. Still, Luke had been broody, I suppose that I think about it Drake had been broody recently. Oh no, I'm rambling, I'm sorry Janet, I'm rambling because I'm scared, scared for you, scared for me, scared for Camp, scared for everything really-" she took a deep breath.

"Alice, shush," she closed her mouth and nodded quickly, "it's okay to be scared, fear keeps us going, but don't let it define you."

"You know, Janet, sometimes you sound like a fortune cookie," Alice said smiling at me, she seemed to have calmed down by now.

"I have never had a fortune cookie," I said, trying to distract her, it worked, Alice gawked at me in an over dramatic way.

"Never had a, wah, never had a, right, that's it, next time you come round, we are having Chinese, just so I can get you a fortune cookie." I laughed, and Alice joined in laughing as well. When we had both calmed down Alice wiped a tear from her eye, "I needed that, I'm calm now." We talked for another hour before Hannah shooed Alice out of the room and decided I needed to rest.


	60. Chapter 59

After one week the infirmary was getting a little boring, the same white walls, the same white ceiling, the same motivational posters of cats. It got very repetitive, even sporadic visits from friends and well wishers (whose names I did not know for the most part) did not make the room less dreary. But, after one week of healing I was discharged from the infirmary with orders to not do anything strenuous for a while, orders that, as with all Demigods, I ignored. My first port of call was Zeus' Fist to check on the defences. In my absence Lou had brought in some skilled Demigod magicians who were not children of Hecate and they had done a thorough check of the area to make sure Drake had not tampered with any of the traps before he left, they caught several broken traps and tampered spells. Beckendorf was very happy with the exploding catapult balls that had been made for him, as he told anyone who would listen. Lou looked tired and haggard from the stress of the magic, "Lou, you need to rest," I said as I walked over, "I'm back now, you'll be no help to anyone of you cannot see straight from exhaustion."

"I suppose you're right," Lou said yawning, "I am a little tired, I just keep having nightmares about a Tartarus, and Kronos keeps whispering in my ear whether I'm awake or asleep, what he's saying it's really scary, but every time I push him away, he comes back, I have my Occlumency shields as high as I can, but he just won't shut up."

"Why's he going after your mind? I've directly opposed him, I mean, I went on the quest winter where we put Atlas back in place, you have made some traps around a rock, he was whispering quietly at me in the winter a couple of times, but not incessantly."

"It might be because you were in the hospital, it all started after Drake…" she trailed off and stared into space before settling on a word, "left."

"Hmm, I wonder… did Drake ever give you something important that you carry with you everywhere?"

Lou frowned in thought, "no, the only thing that always remains either on me or near me is my ring," she pointed at a ring on her left hand which was a simple band of metal with a glass leaf on it. "My friend gave it to me before I moved state a couple of years ago, but I never let anyone near it."

"But you take it off when you go to sleep," I said as I looked closely at the ring.

"Yeah, of course, I put it under my pillow, but…" she trailed off before looking at her ring in horror, "you don't think he would really go that low do you?"

"You never know," I said, "put it somewhere safe tonight, somewhere far away from you, if you don't get a nightmare, if you stop hearing Kronos we will know that he went that far."

"I miss Drake when he wasn't moody or, you know, selling his soul to the creature in the abyss," Lou said with a sigh.

Then a shout went up as five pegasi flew into camp, "their back!" When the pegasi landed, Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, Grover and weirdly, Nico, dismounted, they all looked pretty shaken, particularly Grover who looked ready to be sick. Nico had changed a lot since I had last seen him, he was wearing a black aviator jacket and black jeans, his hair had grown longer and was a wild mess that needed a comb, he was much thinner (probably from missing meals whilst on the run from monsters). He also seemed, darker, not eviler, but darker, kind of how Hades was dark but not evil, as was Thanatos, now I looked at him I realised he looked a lot like an Italian Hades.

"It's rare for a quest to end with more members than it started with," Chiron said, "however, over the past couple of years it has become more common."

"We don't have much time," Percy said hurriedly, "Kronos has the String and his vanguard is coming to Camp, we have so much to talk about. First, Quintus was Daedalus in a body that he built, second, Kronos has now taken up residence inside Luke's body, we were there when he was finally whole, but I think we at least slowed him down. Nico kind of pulled up a giant spire of rock outside his throne room, which should hold him for a while."

"I feared as much," Chiron said. "We must hurry. Hopefully you have slowed down the Titan lord, but his vanguard will still be coming through. They will be anxious for blood. Most of our defenders are already in place. Come!"

"Wait a moment," Silenus demanded, Silenus, for those lucky people who have never met this Satyr, was a member of the Cloven Council, the ruling body of Satyrs, he was a massively overweight, very old satyr with grey hair on his flabby legs and on top of his bulging head. He had the placid, docile eyes of a pet that never really has to do much for food, and as such is not very rational in its decisions. "What of the search for Pan? You are almost three weeks overdue, Grover Underwood! Your searcher's license is revoked!"

Grover took a deep breath, he stood up straight and looked Silenus in the eye. "Searcher's licenses don't matter any more, the great god Pan is dead, he has passed on and left us his spirit." A collective gasp when through the assembled Demigod, Satyrs and Nature Spirits.

"What?" Silenus' face turned bright red, "Sacrilege and lies! Grover Underwood, I will have you exiled for speaking thus!"

"It's true," Percy said. "We were there when he died. All of us."

"Impossible! You are all liars! Nature-destroyers!" Silenus broke off into bleating sounds, which were probably very rude in goat.

Chiron studied Grover's face, "we will speak of this later."

"We will speak of it now!" Silenus said, his face turning a very interesting shade of purple, several veins standing out on his high forehead, I fully expected the veins to burst and for him to keel over on the spot. "We must deal with this -"

"Silenus," Chiron cut in, "my camp is under attack. The matter of Pan has waited two thousand years. I fear it will have to wait a bit longer. Assuming we are still here this evening." Chiron then grimly drew his bow and walked back to the fortifications, signalling the end of the conversation.

Silenus walked off into the forest, a furious fat goat. Clarisse returned to drilling her troops, the Apollo campers returned to helping the Dryads practice their aim with bows. The Hephaestus campers were putting the finishing touches to the fortification, unspooling razor wire, lowering Greek Fire into pits, cranking back the catapults, everything had to be perfect. I sat in the grass quietly contemplating when Annabeth walked over, "do you think we can win?"

"We can always win, the question is if will we win, I don't know the answer, but I'm going to give it a damn good shot," I said. "Even if we don't win, let's make their victory as pyrrhic as possible so the Aurors have at least some chance of beating them."

"You truly don't think we can win do you?" Annabeth said sadly.

"I didn't say that, we have a choke point, we have a highly trained army versus brute force, we have magic and I doubt Tala is about, I injured her arm pretty badly in the winter. We have a shot, but if I was a betting girl, I would not bet on us."

"I would," Annabeth said before walking off.

My next visitor was Alice, who walked over timidly, I looked up at her and smiled, she looked like a rabbit in the headlights for a second before bolting, I sighed and shook my head before returning to calming myself down before the battle.


	61. Chapter 60

"LOCK SHIELDS!" Came Clarisse's call, I immediately jumped to my feet and made my way over to where the magicians were standing next to the command tent. Lou triggered the fire net which contained the first charge of assorted giants and armoured Dracanae, I triggered the barrier and finally Lou triggered the explosion. Just as we planned the explosion vaporised the monsters and the barrier only just managed to contain the force of the explosion, Zeus' Fist was weirdly undamaged by the explosion. The next charge of monsters were met by Beckendorf's exploding catapult balls, which were quite an impressive sight as wave after wave of giants, Dracanae, weird amalgamation creatures with no names and Cyclopes were blown to dust. Eventually we ran out of exploding balls, so the monsters could advance, they picked their way carefully through the battlefield, slowly being picked off by traps, pits, arrows, spells and random Greek Fire.

The monsters slowly advanced until they reached the phalanx of Ares and Hermes warriors in full armour. The phalanx held out against dozens of Laistryon Giants, until one particularly large Giant charged straight through the middle, scattering the brave campers. Chiron then sent in the Athena and Hephaestus cabins, led by Annabeth and Tyson respectively, to shore up our wavering lines.

All around me magicians ran out of magic and either drew weapons to join the fray, or collapsed where they had been standing, until it was only Lou, Alice and myself standing on the hilltop with Chiron and Percy. It was hard to make out individuals, but, I saw Tyson beating a monster with its own helmet, Annabeth and Argus were fighting back to back, and were smashing their way through enemies as they reminded everyone why Argus was head of security and why everyone was scared of Annabeth. There was a cacophony of loud barks as three massive Hellhounds, slightly smaller than Mrs O'Leary leapt from the tunnels and barrelled towards a group of Satyrs led by Grover who were guarding the woods, "GO!" Chiron shouted and Percy ran to face the Hellhounds.

A group of Dracanae suddenly broke away from the fight and slithered towards the cabins as no-one was guarding there. The nearest combatant was Nico, who was cutting his way through monsters with a weird black sword that killed with a single cut, ' _Nico, cabins_ ,' I thought at him. Nico looked around in surprise before seeing the monsters, he stabbed his sword into the ground, creating a massive split in the ground and two dozen skeletons in the attire of various armies throughout history rose from the fissure, the skeletons charged the monsters. Nico collapsed to the ground, I was going to move him when a pair of Hellhounds charged the command hill, one was dispatched immediately by Chiron shooting it with an arrow in the eye. The other made it closer, dodging both arrows and spells, and almost got to Lou, had it not been decapitated by Alice it may have killed someone.

The battle was strongly in our favour until an unearthly scream erupted from the Labyrinth and a bat winged horror flew out onto the battlefield. The creature was what I can only describe as a snake woman dragon centaur, which sounds really stupid, she had the upper body of a woman (except covered in scales) and the lower body of a small dragon, with bronze scales. Around the legs were dozens of writhing snakes, covering her legs like vines, her hair was also made of snakes. Her most striking feature was the bubbling skin at her waist, where snake lady met dragon, it shifted and swirled, forming into the heads of feral animals. Did I mention she also had dragon wings? As if the rest was not overkill enough, there were also huge dragon wings holding her aloft, there was no doubt in my mind over her identity, this was Kampê, a monster so terrifying it kept Cyclopes up at night. She was holding a ball of shining string in one hand, probably Ariadne's string, she passed it to a bear head that formed at her waist and drew two swords from scabbards held by lion heads. The two swords were glowing green scimitars, glowing weapons usually means bad magic and green usually means poison, so she was a little terrifying, okay, make that very terrifying.

She screeched and people ran, her own side ran from her, both sides trampling each other in their fear. The archers who still had arrows fired at her, showing incredible agility, she dodged or caught every single arrow. Tyson was running around trying to rally Demigods to fight her, but to no avail as they were more scared of her than anything else. Lou and I tried our hand next, we launched broad streams of fire that she had no hope of dodging, but naturally, as she was part dragon, she was immune to magic. But as we had worked out, immunity to magic is not total, as it only counts directly, we levitated some of the boulders from Zeus' fist, taking Kampê by surprise, we hit the dragon lady and sent her crashing to the ground to a cheer from our side. Unfortunately the monster was not dead yet, she got up and screeched again, one of her wings bent at an unnatural angle. She was immediately engaged in a sword-fight with Annabeth, who was soon joined by Percy, something was wrong though. The twin green swords left a green miasma behind them when they were swung, which forced Annabeth and Percy to retreat coughing.

"We need to neutralise her swords!" I shouted over the battlefield noises.

"How?" Lou shouted back, "we can't blow away the poison, it will endanger someone else."

"Drop a rock on them, if we break the swords the poison should naturally disperse by itself." We intensified our assault on Kampê, except with smaller rocks, so we had better manoeuvrability as we tried to dislodge Kampê's swords from her hands. No matter where we hit her from, no matter how hard we hit the rocks into her wrists she refused to drop the swords. However, having to fend off rocks and swords meant she could no longer dodge arrows, several long arrows were now stuck in her chest and dragon body. With a swish of a wing, Percy and Annabeth were knocked from their feet, Kampê raised her swords to kill them when Mrs O'Leary crashed into the monster, knocking her from her feet.

"Hail little brother!" Announced a massive booming voice as a massive giant with one hundred arms emerged from the Labyrinth, he towered over everything, his huge head was higher than I was on top of the command hill. He was Briares, one of the hundred handed, "stand firm." Each of his hundred hands threw a chunk of rock which seemed to get larger when they left his hands, with one earthshaking crash. Kampê turned into a rockpile taller than Zeus' Fist, the only evidence of her presence a bent scimitar sticking out the rockpile. At Briares feet Quintus, or rather Daedalus, was fighting his way through the monsters, whenever they cut him, he bled gold oil. The monsters were panicking as they did not have an escape route now. They took one final surge, breaking through in places and rushing the command hill where there was only four people defending the dozen or so unconscious magicians. In the ensuing fight a giant took Chiron by surprise and threw his staff, which hit Chiron's back legs, knocking down the centaur, a cheer went up amongst the monsters as they rushed forward to try and capitalise on the situation as they saw only three girls defending the hill. Lou and I worked in tandem, we put ourselves in the way of the wild charge as we made a joint shield to protect ourselves and Chiron, whilst Alice cast curses and charms at the monsters. Our position was about be overwhelmed when a horrifying sound broke out for the second time that battle. The sound was like a brass band going through a mangle being turned by a platoon of bagpipers while they marched on cats. The sound was a primal call that caused all the monsters to lay down their arms and run back into the maze. The monsters paid no heed to the Demigods, Satyrs, nature spirits, or even the hundred handed giant that attacked them while they retreated, I was later told the sound was produced by Grover.

A cheer went up from our side, a moment of euphoria before the wounded were to be tended too and the dead counted, the three of us still standing cheered in tired joy as we jumped around on the hilltop, I hugged Lou and she hugged me, then I hugged Alice and she hugged me. Then, she did something unexpected…


	62. Chapter 61

She stopped jumping, she stopped me jumping… and she kissed me.

She kissed me hard on the lips.

She kissed me passionately.

And I kissed her back.

We stopped kissing and looked in each other's eyes and were locked in a silent moment where there was only us, the two of us smiling like fools as we stared brown eyes into a rainbow, a moment that seemed to stretch forever, until, the silence was broken.

* * *

Suddenly the outside world came crashing back to us, Percy and Annabeth were politely ignoring our moment, as was Lou, they were tending to Chiron and the unconscious Magicians. Then I remembered something, "Nico!" I hobbled as quickly as I could (I was still injured and something had aggravated my injuries) to where Nico had fallen.

The grass around Nico had turned yellow and there was smoke coming off from him, it looked like it was coming from his clothes, but it was actually his skin. He'd used too much magic and almost burned himself out for it, a medic was trying to give him ambrosia, but he was too unconscious to swallow. "Out of the way," I said as I forced my way through the crowd that had gathered, when I got to his side the medic raised an eyebrow at me, but said nothing. "Please work," I said quietly to myself, Nico had used up too much magic, he would not regain consciousness without some magic to keep him alive. I put my hands to the sides of his head and imagined the image of my magic and his as a pair of pool, as I had with the Manticore three years earlier. My magic was drained after the battle, but I had enough to spare some for him, I imagined someone placing an Archimedes Screw in my pool to siphon water into his pool and I felt magic leave my body and go into Nico's.

Nico coughed and slowly opened his eyes, "never tried summoning so many before, I - I'll be fine," I heard people walk up behind me. "Daedalus," I turned to see the former sword fighting instructor standing behind me, along with Percy, Annabeth and Tyson.

"Yes, my boy," man said sadly as he knelt next to Nico, "I made a very bad mistake, I valued my happiness over that of other and now it has led to bloodshed, I came to correct my mistakes." Daedalus had a couple of scratches and dents, but they were repairing as we watched, Mrs O'Leary loomed behind him, licking the wounds on her master's head so Daedalus' hair stood up in a spike. Briares had shrunk to a more normal size and was now standing next to Daedalus, he was surrounded by a group of awed campers and satyrs. He looked embarrassed, but he was signing autographs on armour, shields, T-shirts, and I think a mythomagic figure or two. "I found the Hundred-Handed One as I came through the maze," Daedalus explained, "it seems he had the same idea, to come help, but he was lost, so we fell in together. We both came to make amends."

"Yay!" Tyson bounded over, "Briares! I knew you would come!"

"I did not know," the Hundred-Handed One said, "but you reminded me who I am, Cyclops, you are the true hero."

Tyson blushed, Percy patted him affectionately on the back, "I knew that a long time ago," Percy said. "But, Daedalus… the Titan army is still down there. Even without the string, they'll be back. They'll find a way sooner or later, with Kronos leading them."

Daedalus sheathed his sword, looking at us with sad yet affectionate eyes, "you are right, as long as the Labyrinth is here, your enemies can use it, which is why the Labyrinth cannot continue."

Annabeth stared at him, "but you said the Labyrinth is tied to your life force! As long as you're alive—"

"Yes, my young architect," Daedalus agreed, "when I die, the Labyrinth will die as well, and so I have a present for you." He slung a leather satchel off his back, unzipped it, and produced a sleek silver laptop computer, the kind the Athena campers used to design buildings on, on the lid was a blue capital delta. "My work is here," he said. "It's all I managed to save from the fire, notes on projects I never started, some of my favourite designs. I couldn't develop these over the last few millennia, I did not dare reveal my work to the mortal world, but perhaps you will find it interesting." He handed the computer to Annabeth, who stared at it like it was a gift directly from the Gods (which, I suppose to an architect, it kind of was).

"You're giving me this? But this is priceless! This is worth… I don't even know how much!"

"Small compensation for the way I have acted," Daedalus said with a golden tear in his eye, "you were right, Annabeth, about children of Athena, we should be wise, and I was not. Someday you will be a greater architect than I ever was, take my ideas and improve them, it is the least I can do before I pass on."

"Whoa," Percy said, "pass on? But you can't just kill yourself. That's wrong."

He shook his head, "not as wrong as hiding from my crimes for two thousand years, genius does not excuse evil, Percy. My time has come. I must face my punishment."

"You won't get a fair trial," Annabeth shouted, she also had tears in her eyes, "the spirit of Minos sits in judgement—"

"I will take what comes," he said, "and trust in the justice of the Underworld, such as it is. That is all we can do, isn't it?"

He looked straight at Nico, and Nico's face darkened, "yes," he said quietly.

"Will you take my soul for ransom, then?" Daedalus asked, "you could use it to reclaim your sister."

"No," Nico said. "I will help you release your spirit, but, Bianca has passed, she must stay where she is."

Daedalus nodded, "well done, son of Hades, you are becoming wise." Then he turned toward Percy, "one last favour, Percy Jackson, I cannot leave Mrs O'Leary alone, and she has no desire to return to the Underworld. Will you care for her?"

Percy looked torn, I knew he could not look after her, but neither could I, Cobblepot would have a fit trying to clean up after her, "if she was smaller I might be able to look after her," I said.

"Say no more," Daedalus said, "I planned for something like this, so a few decades ago I had a wizard enchant a pendant for Mrs O'Leary's collar." He put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a name tag, he then reached up and attached it to Mrs O'Leary's collar, the giant Hellhound shrunk to the size of a beagle. She barked her disapproval, but the bark sounded more like a normal dog than a thunderstorm.

"I'll have to ask Dad," I said, I waved my hand and a rainbow appeared next to me, I quickly checked the time, it was about six, Dad was probably reading, or something, I threw a drachma into the rainbow, "oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show Thom Harker at his home in Texas, if he's not busy."

The rainbow shimmered and changed to show my Dad's face, he beamed when he saw me, "good to see you're still alive Janet, I get worried when I don't hear from you."

"I'm fine, I'm doing better than most of the campers, we just had a major battle with Kronos' army, we forced them to retreat, but I fear the victory was at great cost."

"That's good news, but the losses are tragic, why did you not ask the Aurors for help?" My expression must have said everything, "I see," he said darkly, "they refused, someone thought you had gone mad."

"They claimed it was a religious thing, so refused to intervene, I think you might want to look into some of your co-workers."

"Well, you did not call to tell me that, you want something, I know when that expression," he said smiling at me.

"I have no idea what you mean," I said innocently.

Dad was about to continue when Daedalus joined the call, "can you please hurry this along, some of us have afterlives to get to."

"Who is this?" Dad asked, annoyed at being cut off.

"Dad, this is Daedalus, Daedalus, this is my Dad," I said making the necessary introductions.

"Charmed I'm sure," Daedalus muttered.

"As in the Daedalus?" Dad asked excitedly, his eyes shining, "can I ask you some questions?"

"No, I'm busy dying, Janet, please hurry this up."

"Right, sorry, we got sidetracked, anyway, Dad, Daedalus is about to die, and his dog needs a place to live, can she come live with us? She is very well trained."

"Wait, how can you be so calm about one of the greatest minds ever being so close to death?" Dad asked, "this is a tragedy."

"Dad, focus."

"How big is the dog?" I reached down and picked up Mrs O'Leary, because apparently the shrinking spell scaled her weight accordingly, because that is how physics work, "is that a Hellhound?"

"Yes, the world's only domesticated Hellhound," I said.

"Very well, but on some conditions, you clean up any mess she makes, you will walk her and feed her, and she will be your familiar in place of that owl of yours, who we both know you dislike."

"Snowy is a little creepy, well very creepy," I said, "deal, I will look after Mrs O'Leary."

"Is there anything else you need Janet?" Dad asked, "maybe a Dracanae, or a Manticore that needs a home?"

"That's all Dad, see you in the autumn, or maybe before, probably before," I said, Dad waved his hand through the image, severing the connection. "Well, Mrs O'Leary," I said to the dog that I was still holding in my arms, "looks like you're coming with me," Mrs O'Leary barked and started to lick my face, I laughed at my dog's tickly tongue.

Daedalus was smiling at the sun, tears running freely down his face as the man looked very old all of a sudden, as though his true face was showing through his machinery. "Then I am ready to see my son…And Perdix," he said, "I must tell them how sorry I am." Annabeth had tears in her eyes, Percy was trying his best to hide his own tears, as were most of the Demigods who were standing around still.

Daedalus turned toward Nico, who drew his sword, at first I was afraid Nico would kill the old inventor, but he simply said, "your time is long since come, be released and rest." A smile of relief spread across Daedalus' face. He froze like a statue. His skin turned transparent, revealing the bronze gears and machinery whirring inside his body. Then the statue turned to grey ash and disintegrated. One wisp of the ash floated skywards, resisting the gently breeze that was trying to tear it apart, we watched it fade into the sky.

The silence was shattered by a single jolt as the labyrinth collapsed and the earth resettled, after everyone picked themselves up Percy looked at us all, "come on, we have a lot of work to do."

The dead were too many, twenty five campers died, as did forty satyrs and at least twenty nature spirits, the goodbyes were too many. Lee Fletcher from Apollo had been crushed by a club, Castor, one of Mr D's only two children, the list went on and on. Mr D's other son, Pollux was chosen to be the one to light the pyres, he tried to speak, but he soon collapsed into tears and simply threw the torch onto the funeral pyre.

Camp was in a state of mourning for weeks, everyone had lost someone they cared about, were friends with, or had just known long enough to be sad. Alice and I saw very little of each other in the weeks of mourning. I spent most of my time with Lou Ellen as we worked to disable our unsprung traps and some goodies that had been attached to the monsters by Drake to cause extra damage after the monsters fell. Whenever I did see Alice there was no mention of our kiss, but we did blush about it a lot, and I think the others realised it had happened as well as people would try to leave us alone together.

After two weeks I had had enough, "Alice," I said when we were alone, "on the hill after the battle," Alice froze, suddenly looking like she would rather be in detention with Snape, "we kissed, and I need to know, was that just a moment of excitement thing, or," I swallowed nervously, "do you really have feelings for me?"

"I, I, I, um, Janet, I like you, a lot, like, I like like you, I, I, I never said anything, because, well, I was scared of ruining our friendship, now, I must ask you the same." She was dreadfully pale, I was worried she would faint, "do you have feelings for me?"

I leaned over, took her hands in mine and kissed her on the lips, "yes, I do."


	63. Chapter 62 - Ruminations

**Ruminations of the author**

Sorry it took so long, but I wanted it to be just so, and I wrote the back-story for The Clock, he will have a part to play, everyone will in one storyline or another. I am very proud of how this turned out, I have intended Janet and Alice to be a thing since the beginning (now we know who Janet and Alice sent their valentine's to), same with Drake being a traitor, he was always a traitor, everything he has ever done was because he was a traitor.

This fic has my largest influx of OCs, The Clock, Tala, Professor Babbling (she appeared in the last fic, and is a real HP character but was fleshed out in this fic far beyond the name she was given in the books), Coeus and the Defender of the Faith. All of these were based on other things: The Clock is a British Victorian Professor Paradox, Tala is a more powerful Tala from the Justice League cartoons, Babbling was a background character in Harry Potter who was only named and described as really old, so I made her into a real, useful character. Coeus was based on Coeus from Greek myth, who only appeared in the obscurities of myths and the Defender was based on Father Alexander from Hellsing, except not Scottish, or regenerating. There is also Marc, Alicia and (in the summer vacation) Frederick, Sarah and Alexander these are true OCs who I added to give Thom a family, because I mentioned his siblings before, but never explored them, I never talked about how they effected him, how leaving them to follow his beloved Hecate hurt him.

So, Tala was added because I realised that up until this point Janet was very Mary Sue, she cruised passed every obstacle I put in her path. So, I added a character with only one weakness, and Janet does not know what it is. She is a villain who Janet has to think tactically about, one who she can't just drop a big rock on, or use legilimency to knock out. I did the same with the Death Eater in her second year vacation, a foe in armoured clothing that turned aside all her attacks, he is also still out there, as Thorn alluded too.

I am aware of how awkward the transition was between London and meeting Uncle Alistair, but I had to shoehorn in the summer vacation somehow. Also, did any guess who Uncle Alistair was? Or rather, did anyone not guess who Uncle Alistair was?

I'm quite happy with how this turned out, I am aware I have changed how future events will pan out by putting Pettigrew in jail, but don't worry, I have a plan.

 **Nerdfighter1309**

Stay awesome everyone


	64. Read me

I'm not dead (yay)

I'm sorry I've been away for so long, but this story has been so slow to write (as I write the entire story as one to try and keep it mostly consistent). Then I had to get it beta read (as I now have a beta reader in the form of the amazing Cynder2013), all while trying (and failing) to do my degree (which I am having to change),

The first chapter of the next story, Janet Harker and the Goblet of Fire, has been posted, the uploads will be slower than usual (once a week) to give Cynder2013 more time to finish betaing the rest of the story.

Without further ado, onto the reviews:

Reviews:

Cynder2013: Huh, I missed the Skulduggery Pleasant reference. The China Sorrows one anyway. Man... That's embarrassing.

*Well, you can't catch them all (just ask Ash, he's been trying for years)

Ch44:

Cynder2013: That was fast. It took ages for Harry to get a full Patronus in the books.

*(Sheepish look): I hadn't gotten that far in the books and was basing it off the movies

Ilostmyaccount: So, Janet's happy memory is Alice, if she ends up with anyone other than Alice I will be disappointed to say the least,  
Also, it seems Lupin does not even want to catch Peter,

Regards

* Funny you should say that...

I think it's more that Lupin is being cautious about getting his hopes up, he's believed the worst of Sirius for so many years and doesn't want to confront the fact that he might be wrong

Ch45:

Ilostmyaccount: (Sigh) Neville, will you ever learn?

Regards

* Nope, no as long as he keeps being used as plot device by authors

Cynder2013: Cadogan...he has problems.

*Yeah, Cadogan is too Gryffindor

Ch46:

Cynder2013: *laughing* Apollo needs to do that more often.

* I expect it gets boring, driving the sun around on a determined path all day

Ilostmyaccount: Poor Trelawney, having her lesson crashed by a bored God,

Regards

* It's more interesting than her actual lessons

Ch47:

Ilostmyaccount: I must say, I approve of how you wrote the Buckbeak execution scene,

Regards

*Thank you, it was a very difficult one to get the tone right for, but I think it came out well

Cynder2013: It's too much to hope that they'll keep hold of Wormtail, isn't it?

*No, no it's not

Ch48:

Cynder2013: Come on, guys. You have Janet right there going along with it, and you know no one could ever control her mind. Not an ordinary wizard anyway.

*Emotions are running high, they aren't exactly thinking logically

Ilostmyaccount: Janet, if you had explained things first you would not be in this mess and you would not have attacked a teacher.  
Also, the pronoun game is strong with this one,

Regards

*Yeah, Janet's reaching Dumbledore levels of keeping secrets

(Insert Cinemasins' *ding*)

Ch49:

Ilostmyaccount: I forgot how slimy Pettigrew was, I need a shower.  
Janet got a bit scary there, did she really just threaten to kill him?

Regards

* Yeah, Pettigrew is a sycophant's sycophant

Janet's certainly pushing the line of what's light and what's dark. She's very protective of her friends, and this is the guy who has helped cause most of the suffering in Harry's life (contributed to the death of his parents and framed his godfather, meaning Harry had to stay with the Dursley's)

Cynder2013: Too bad there aren't any other werewolves that could help you out. You know, ones that keep their heads when they transform.

*Not sure what you're referring to here, but there aren't any other werewolves on the school grounds.

Ch50:

Cynder2013: There's Alice being all to the point. And that's why we love her.

*She is the Queen of understatements

Ch51:

Cynder2013: Wow, Ron actually can keep his mouth shut. Who knew?

*It only took an unbreakable oath, and the threat of Janet to make him be quiet

Ilostmyaccount: I think Ron would be more reluctant to swear the oath,  
Is the werewolf sanctuary a reference?  
Can you drive it into our faces anymore that Janet is really powerful? Because we get it, she's OP, we get it,

Regards

*Yeah, Ron should have been more reluctant, I accept I failed in my characterisation there (I had forgotten about when the Twins almost had him swear an oath to serve them.

No reference, just one of the most desolate places I could think of

I wouldn't say so much OP as she is just stronger than most of the threats in the Harry Potter universe (with the exception of the Basilisk, Fluffy and possibly Quirrell all the others threats up to this point have been kind of pathetic).

Ch52:

Cynder2013: That's a wonderful last sentence. I'm laughing at Peter's sentence.

*Yeah, it's only slightly excessive

Ilostmyaccount: Invisible and intangible, this is like the invisible gardener paradox, but that is about God, not nargles.  
Also, I want to see the magic courts happen, but I guess Pettigrew is going to escape before next year, or I suppose you could replace him, but it wouldn't be hard to keep him,

Regards

*I had not heard of the invisible gardener before, so thanks for that

The magic court was in part in Janet's summer story: Janet Harker and an Adventure with the Doctor. You'll have to wait and see if he escapes.

Ch53:

Ilostmyaccount: Finally we see the Uncle, and I was right, it is Moody,  
Why was Janet not summoned to Camp earlier?

Regards

*Well yeah, I made it kind of obvious

Because that's when they chose to summon her

Cynder2013: Oh, next year is going to be very interesting. But until then, Battle of the Labyrinth.

*Aren't all their year's interesting?

Ch54:

Cynder2013: "They provide...entertainment" is totally a great reason to save the world. gods.

The 'e' in the second "rune" got dropped.

*The gods are certainly temperamental

Fixed

Ilostmyaccount: So, Drake is possessed or evil?  
Slip of the tongue, eh Hecate?

Regards

*Yeah, he bad

Totally, that was not her accidentally saying something that she meant to keep secret

Ch55:

Cynder2013: Drake: We all want to know what's going on with him.

*Sometimes ignorance is better than knowing (although, I'm fairly certain Drake was no-one's favourite character)

Ilostmyaccount: Drake is either evil, or just maybe slipping towards darker magic.  
Creative traps there, what about using fiendfyre?

Regards

*Why not both.

Fiendfyre is too dark and destructive, they wouldn't be able to contain the fire before it killed someone.

Ch56:

Ilostmyaccount: Who knew the book is sassy?  
Drake, I know it is Drake.  
A Canadian Dryad called Maple? Oh stereotypes,

Regards

*Well, it is semi-sentient

Everyone know's it's Drake

Stereotypes are great, eh

Cynder2013: Let's see, could it be...Drake? Or maybe that's too obvious...

*Nah, it's Drake, I'm not good at subtle.

Ch57:

Cynder2013: And there's Drake almost being the Joker. Almost. He didn't totally break the fourth wall.

*He just gave it a damn good kicking

Ilostmyaccount: Oh, so it was Drake, like no-one in the world guessed that (rolls eyes),  
It is good to see Janet not win one for once, she was rather Mary Sueish,

Regards

*I'm not good at subtle ok

Yeah, just a bit (although, technically she didn't beat Tala and only won because The Defender of the Faith turned up)

Ch58:

Cynder2013:When it would be easier to list the injuries someone doesn't have, Hannah will tell them.

*Yep, and she will now never be seen again

Ilostmyaccount: Janet's knowledge of the world seems a little random and used more as a punchline than as actual character development,

Regards

*Some of it, but she has only got exposure to the Muggle world via random TV and whatever movies Alice decides to show her

Ch59:

Cynder2013: Satyrs, you forgot the motivational posters of satyrs.

If Alice dies...

*They have to change them occasionally to stop the Demigods getting fed up of seeing the same one over and over again when they get sent in.

When did I imply that Alice was going to die?

Ilostmyaccount: So, what does Alice want?

Regards

*Just wait, give it a few chapters

Ch60:

HeisenbergtheGreat: Nice chapter. Cliffhanger got me all excited

*I felt like that was the perfect place to stop

Cynder2013:She turned green and tried to stab her.

Joking. I don't want to say what I actually think happened just in case I'm wrong.

*Hmm, you were probably right (not the turning green bit)

Ilostmyaccount: Well, that is an interesting way around a character's magical immunity.  
That is a rather, um, interesting way to describe the sound of Grover's scream, also, the funniest I have read.  
What did she do? I'm on the edge of my seat,

Regards

*I might have stolen it from how some of the Aes Sedai get around Mat's immunity to the One Power while wearing the Foxhead medallion in the Wheel of Time series

I thought it was rather amusing while writing it

Wait for it

Ch61:

HeisenbergtheGreat: Definitely worth the wait. Well written and well done

*Thanks

Ilostmyaccount: (Squeals) Alice and Janet are a couple, I'm so happy, I wanted this for ages,  
Mrs O'Leary at Hogwarts will be interesting to say the least, but I like the shrinking thing, that means she will fit,

Regards

*So did I

Mrs O'Leary is just a giant puppy, a giant, bus sized puppy

Cynder2013: I KNEW IT!

Last chapter or...?

*Everyone knew it (I hope)

There's one more to go

Archdruid89: I just realized something if Jane and her father are going to be taking care of Mrs. O'Leary, here's what she ought to be given as a reward for being a good hellhound: a Scooby Snack.

*I'm afraid this isn't a Scooby Doo crossover, she'll have to settle for bacon

Muujona: yaaay they're together they're freaking adorable gods I hope they do tons of cutesy couple fluff that's always the best and omg them at the yule ball :D

*There will be some fluff

Ch22 (yeah, going back a bit):

Jenny: If I look up all those towns, books are going to come up, aren't they?

*Nope, just Roarhaven (Skulduggery Pleasant), the rest are just made up names


End file.
